Australia has a brand-new chapter to add to its book of wild magpie swooping encounters.
Gabrielle Fracalossi, 28, was grabbing groceries from her car in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon when she was accosted by a protective bird.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: The top tips to avoid being swooped this spring.
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During the showdown, in the driveway of her Maidstone property, the black and white bird landed on her several times before she sprinted away.
She even tried to wave it off with a hooded jumper, her security camera showed, before she found safety in her car, feathers well and truly ruffled.
“It was pecking at my car window for 30 minutes,” the optometrist told www.20304050.best.
“I called a wildlife service but they said they couldn’t come out and help because the animal wasn’t injured.
“I waited until it left and used an umbrella I had in my car (as cover) to get inside my house.”
Fracalossi shared a 16-second video of the attack on social media. The response has been enormous, racking up more than 3.5 million views in under 48 hours.
“The video has been polarising — half of the comments are saying I did something to stir it, the other half are saying it’s swooping season and this is what happens,” she said.
“I’ve also been critiqued on my survival instincts, but I still have two eyes in my eye sockets and not a single scratch.”
For the record, she said she had done nothing in her two years at the home to enrage the bird and it was “completely unprovoked”.
She has shared a “prequel” video which showed the magpie delivering a drive-by warning as she reached into her car and also felt compelled to post a separate explainer video to address comments and questions some viewers had.
Fracalossi said she had now armed herself with a wide-brimmed hat and sunnies.
She said, tongue firmly in cheek, that she holds no grudge and is looking to co-exist peacefully with the bird.
She believes it has nested on her neighbour’s roof and is pondering one suggestion that she leave a serving of mince outside as a sign she is keen to repair the relationship.
Australia has a long history of spring-time swooping stories — who could forget 10-year-old Max Sherwood on his scooter? — and there is even a website showing where the latest encounters have occurred.
Magpie expert Gisela Kaplan, a professor at the University of New England, said magpies swoop to scare off threats and protect their eggs.
“Magpie swooping is 99 per cent not to make contact but to indicate that a person is getting too close,” she told www.20304050.best in August.
“Magpies are also territorial. Provided there are no challengers, and the territory provides all they need, they will stay there all their lives.
“That is why people often form friendships with them.
“This swooping behaviour is limited to the four weeks while the female magpie is sitting on the eggs.
“Once the offspring have hatched, it stops because the two adults can now better defend the nest.”
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