A three-year-old girl was left with a leaking pupil after a particularly nasty magpie attack.
Zoe Butler and her family were heading towards the Mandurah skate park, on Western Australia's south west coast, when the magpie swooped her multiple times.
Zoe's mother, Mary-Jayne, only realised 15 minutes later that something was really wrong when Zoe began complaining about her eye hurting.
"I've never seen a magpie get so vicious but we didn't think it got her eye because there was a scratch above her eye," Ms Butler said.
"We went to the skatepark then about 15 minutes later she kept complaining about her eye. Her pupil started leaking out."
After being checked out at Peel Health Campus, Zoe was rushed to Perth Children's Hospital to have emergency surgery to repair her eye.
Ms Butler said it was almost a week later when she could finally leave the hospital.
"We have a follow up appointment soon to find out if it's healed because she has stitches in her eye at the moment - she has to have more surgery as well," she said.
"It's healing well but they don't know if there's any permanent damage yet and they can only go off what she is telling them."
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The ordeal has left little Zoe shaken as she is petrified to go outside and is even scared of flys buzzing around her.
Mandurah resident Oliver May reported a similar magpie attack on his four-year-old son Jamie, who was bike riding along Egret Point and Seahawk Drive when the ordeal happened.
"We were riding towards the bridge and a magpie started swooping Jamie - it continued to swoop us on the other side of the bridge," Mr May said.
"We laughed it off and kept riding but then the magpie managed to get in front of his helmet and nearly took out his eye.
"The only way I could get it to stop swooping was to stand over Jamie."
The attack left Jamie with a cut on his eyebrow and eyelid.
The Department of Parks and Wildlife recommended wearing a broad-brimmed hat and sunglasses when outdoors during spring to protect your face and eyes from swooping.
"It can be beneficial to find an alternative route around nesting sites during peak season," a spokesperson said.
"Avoid provoking magpies and always remain calm in a situation where a bird may be swooping and walk out of the area quickly."
If a member of the public is concerned about swooping magpies or has been involved in an incident, please contact the Parks and Wildlife Service's Wildcare Helpline on 9474 9055 for advice or reach out to the local council to make a report.
