A penetrated eye that needed surgery is just one of an “extraordinary” spate of magpie-inflicted injuries in Melbourne, and one hospital has issued a warning about the swooping birds. The number of eye injuries caused by the bird has risen significantly, according to the emergency director of the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear hospital, Dr Carmel Crock. “But in July we saw 14 cases of bird eye injuries. There have been 3,253 recorded attacks and 518 injuries linked to magpies across the country in 2017, according to the Magpie Alert website. Of the total, 702 attacks occurred in Victoria, which ranks third behind New South Wales and Queensland for number of attacks.

Source: The Guardian October 19, 2017 02:48 UTC