With spring upon us, it is once again magpie nesting season. For some of us, this will unfortunately mean getting swooped as we pass near a magpie nest. Interestingly, it’s nearly always male magpies that attack us. Though it may seem like magpies everywhere are dropping on people, researchers believe that it is only 1-in-10 nesting magpies that swoop. For more facts on magpies and their swooping behaviour, check out Professor Emeritus Darryl Jones’ video Do Magpies Know Their Victims? produced as part of Griffith’s Know More in Sixty Seconds series.
Urban ecologist, Professor Emeritus Darryl Jones in 2004.
This series of sixty-second videos explain a variety of topics from Native Title, who invented the first computer, where the word ‘news’ comes from, to how to stop yourself saying ‘um’ when speaking. You can even find out if using an electric toothbrush is better for your mouth than a manual one, by visiting the Know More in Sixty Seconds playlist on the Griffith Archive YouTube channel.
For more of Griffith’s history, check out the Griffith Archive website.
