Incoming! Crazed magpie swoops cyclist EIGHT times leaving him with a bleeding ear

• Cyclist, James Wood, was swooped eight times on a bike trail by a magpie
• He recorded the swooping with a camera on the back of his helmet 
• Mr Wood was left with a bloodied ear after the attack

By Alisha Buaya and Rachel Eddie For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 22:18 EST, 1 October 2015 | Updated: 20:26 EST, 11 October 2015

The terrifying moment a magpie attacked a cyclist eight times leaving him with a bloodied ear has been captured on camera.

James Wood was riding on a bike trail link in Frankston, an outer-southeastern suburb of Melbourne, in Victoria, when the magpie attacked him behind his helmet.

Mr Wood said incident was 'a bit scary' because he didn't know when the next swoop would be or how strong it would be, the Herald Sun reports 

Scroll down for video 

James Wood was cycling on a bike path when a magpie came out of the trees and swooped him eight times 

Mr Wood captured footage of the magpie's attack with a GoPro camera attached to the back of his helmet

The footage, captured from a GoPro camera on the back of his helmet shows him riding on the bike path inbetween a highway and bushes.

Mr Wood was left with a wound on his ear and believes that the magpie used its beak 

Seconds into the video, the magpie flies out from the bushes, directing itself towards the back of Mr Wood's head.

The magpie dives down at his head a total of eight times.

Mr Wood told Daily Mail Australia that he had been swooped while riding the same bike trail three years ago and decided to go on it with a GoPro attached to the helmet to see if it would happen again.

'Whether that was the same magpie I don't know, but it was in the same area,' he said.

Mr Wood believes the bird used its beak to attack him leaving his ear to bled quite a bit, the wound has since healed.

Data from MagpieAlert.com.au shows that 65.7 per cent of magpie attacks are directed at cyclists, there have been 4112 attacks and 587 injuries this year alone. 

With magpie swooping season well under way, people have taken to social media to share the good and bad side of the endangered bird. 

Queensland and New South Wales have been revealed as the states worst-hit by magpie attacks as councils around Australia take drastic action against the territorial birds during swooping season.

He was attacked by a magpie on the same bike trail three years ago and rode the same path again to see if it would again

People have taken to Instagram to warn others of magpie swooping attacks around Australia, including Monash university in Victoria who have set up signs around their campus warning students of magpies swooping in the area

This Instagram users have shared a range of their up close pictures and encounters of a magpies

This comes after a number of children in Gosford in New South Wales were pecked in the eyes, and others in Queensland were left with cuts on their faces following swooping attacks this month.

Some councils have resorted to culling particularly aggressive birds while others have erected 'magpie danger zone' signs to warn people of problem areas. 

In Queensland this year 970 magpie attacks have been reported, followed by 801 attacks in NSW and 686 attacks in Victoria.  

This frenzied magpie swooped in on cyclist Trent Nicholson in Shellharbour, near Wollongong, NSW last year. Mr Nicholson caught the action on a GoPro camera

Website Magpie Alert was launched by Jon Clark as a platform to report swooping incidents and map dangerous zones. 932 attacks have been reported in Queensland alone this year, followed by 787 in NSW and 679 in Victoria

Little Dock and Stanley Streets in South Brisbane are among the worst affected areas, according to website Magpie Alert.

In Sydney, grass near Glebe's Northcott Road in central Sydney has the most reported injuries, while grass near North Cremorne Wharf at Cremorne Point on the North Shore and Percival Road in Stanmore in Sydney's inner west are also hot spots for swooping.

A five-year-old girl in Beenleigh, south of Brisbane in Queensland, was injured on Wednesday and another five-year-old in Tarneit, Victoria, was left with a gash on the side of the head caused by a 'very aggressive' magpie.

Another incident was reported by a parent whose three-year-old son had been swooped on Wednesday morning which was described as 'scary'.

The attacks were reported to Magpie Alert, a website launched by Jon Clark to record swooping incidents and map dangerous zones across Australia. 

'It shouldn't take children being seriously injured with a risk of permanent blindness before something is done to prevent this happening,' the parent wrote.

Six-year-old Peter Adnam-Berry had a hole pierced in his eye by the magpie's beak and was given eight stitches

10-month-old Isaiah Heng was attacked by the same bird just days earlier. He suffered a ripped cornea and underwent multiple operations

According to a guide released by ACT Territory and Municipal Services, swooping season runs between July and December, with September the worst month of all as most eggs hatch chicks. 

In Brisbane City Council covered bins have been installed throughout the city to avoid enticing the birds following an increase in injuries, while signs have been installed to warn people of the potential danger, Courier Mail reported.

In Canberra, ACT Parks and Conservation were forced to euthanise seven magpies in the Yerrabi Pond picnic area earlier in September.

'Some people have been injured as a result of aggressive magpies in the area, including one young child who was scratched on the face,' a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

'In this instance relocation was not an option because of their large numbers and because magpies, as territorial birds, are likely to return to the place they were removed from.'

The council also erected signs ahead of the swooping season to advise people to stop feeding the magpies, and rangers are monitoring the location and behaviour of the birds to determine if any further action needs to be taken. 

'It never crossed my mind that a magpie would peck my baby in the eye, and [that] he could possibly lose his eye,' Isaiah's mother, Renay Hang said. She added that she wanted other parents to be aware of the dangers

A number of signs had been erected in both Brisbane and Canberra ahead of the swooping season to warn of the dangers

A cyclist named Adam had been riding along the bike path on the Eastern Lake Basin in Canberra, and was left with a wound on the back of his neck after a magpie swooped him

In September, a magpie from Elisabeth Ross Park at East Gosford on the NSW Central Coast had been put down by authorities after it injured five children and was deemed a risk to public safety.

Six-year-old Peter Adnam-Berry had a hole pierced in his eye by the magpie's beak and 10-month-old Isaiah Heng suffered a ripped cornea following the attacks which were just days apart. 

'We were told he may lose his eye, but doctors managed to save it. He has probably lost some of his sight, however,' Peter's father, Simon Adnam-Berry, told Daily Telegraph.

'They put stitches in it, about eight,' Peter told Seven News.

Isaiah had undergone several operations at the Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney's west.

'He's been a trouper, but it has been terrible,' his mother Renay Heng told Daily Telegraph.

'It never crossed my mind that a magpie would peck my baby in the eye, and [that] he could possibly lose his eye,' Ms Heng told Nine News.

'I just wanted to warn other parents about the dangers and just make them aware because you just don't think it's going to happen.'

Sydney Opthalmic Specialists on Macquarie Street in Sydney city have warned of the risks of magpie attacks following the increase in injuries.

'Of particular concern is the rise in eye injuries from magpie attacks in Sydney and the central coast this spring,' Sydney Opthalmic Specialists said in a statement.

'Sydney opthalmologists have seen a number of young children and babies present with serious eye injuries due to magpie attacks in the last week alone in Sydney.'

Dr Michael Jones at the Children's Hospital said he's seen cases where victims have had an eye removed following a magpie attack.

Others have been left with injuries so severe they are considered legally blind.

Cyclists are also common victims of magpies, such as Chris Southwood of Naremburn on Sydney's North Shore. 

Breakfast announcer from Star FM Mildura's 99.5, Amber Wheatland tested out two theories of deterring magpies and documented them on YouTube

A number of victims will unfortunately have their eye removed or will be left legally blind following such an attack 

The 32-year-old managed to film himself being attacked last Monday in nearby Sydney suburb Artarmon.

'I've been swooped many times,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Another cyclist named Adam had been riding along the bike path on the Eastern Lake Basin in Canberra, and was left with a wound on the back of his neck after a magpie swooped him in the nation's capital earlier this month.

In order to avoid injury, it is advised that people wear broad-brimmed hats and sunglasses in areas known to have territorial magpies. 

The birds are also less likely to swoop if you look them directly in the eye, while cyclists should get off their bike and walk to avoid injury. 

The news follows the publication of research which suggest magpies use facial recognition to repeatedly attack the same person 

Guides warn people to get off their bike and walk through areas known to have territorial magpies

The news follows the publication of research which suggest magpies use facial recognition to repeatedly attack the same person and they may even know where an individual lives if they want to easily victimise them.

Griffith University behavioural ecologist Dr Darryl Jones told Daily Mail Australia earlier this month that research found that magpies can recognise individual people by their facial features.

It is not clear why magpies target particular people but Dr Jones says the birds can often live in the same territory for 20 years and would recognise residents in the immediate area easily.

'When they decide to start treating that person as a threat, they know where they live. They can victimise someone easily,' he said.

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