'Nasty Magpie' Swoops on Koala in Adelaide Suburb

It seems that no one is safe from Australia’s territorial magpies lately, not even the local wildlife.

Alyssa Vaple’s video shows a bird swooping down on a koala that was minding its own business as it crossed a residential road in Aberfoyle Park, Adelaide.

Magpies in Australia can become aggressively territorial during breeding season. A warm winter has led to an early start to “swooping season” this spring, according to local reports. One magpie in Sydney was shot by a local council earlier in September, the ABC said, after dozens of complaints of attacks, including injuries, over several years.

Alyssa Vaple told Storyful she sometimes feeds the magpies in her area. “They aren’t as bad as what some people say they are,” she said. Credit: Alyssa Vaple via Storyful