Meet The Magpie Man: Australia’s Expert At Avoiding The Swoop

The magpie whisperer.

It’s the middle of spring, and you know what that means – it’s swoop season.

We’ve all been there – walking through the park, dreading the approach of a magpie.

We all want to avoid it, so Student Edge caught up with The Magpie Man – Australia’s own expert in speaking to magpies and avoiding the feared swoop.

He has a huge admiration for magpies, calling them “beautiful” and perfectly mimicking their iconic call.

The Magpie Man had a bunch of tips for people to avoid magpie swooping.

“Probably the best one is don’t go in a park where there’s magpies,” he said. “The best thing to do is to just be calm, and walk off slowly.”

The Magpie Man said you should absolutely not scream and run, because that will only threaten them more.

Overall, the Magpie Man said the best thing you can do to avoid swooping is by using music.

Only specific music works to deter the birds, so the Magpie Man has teamed up with Spotify to produce a playlist.

The playlist includes tracks like Tina Turner’s "The Best" (Magpie Man’s favourite), Led Zeppelin’s "Immigrant Song", Skrillex’s "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites", and much more.

The Magpie Man said the songs are tied by the tone of voice and music.

“There’s this abrasive sound – you’ve got Barnsey (Jimmy Barnes) on there with this high powered screech, you’ve got Led Zeppelin. The tone is what they don’t like.”

So next time you’re in the park and a magpie's giving you the eye, turn the volume up and pump up the tunes.