{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T03:42:30Z","timestamp":1777606950187,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2013,8,13]],"date-time":"2013-08-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1376352000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Masked Lapwings, Vanellus miles, often come into \u2018conflict\u2019 with humans, because they often breed in close proximity to humans and actively defend their ground nests through aggressive behaviour, which typically involves swooping. This study examined whether defensive responses differed when nesting birds were confronted with different human stimuli (\u2018pedestrian alone\u2019 vs. \u2018person pushing a lawn mower\u2019 approaches to nests) and tested the effectiveness of a commonly used deterrent (mock eyes positioned on the top or back of a person\u2019s head) on the defensive response. Masked Lapwings did not swoop closer to a person with a lawn mower compared with a pedestrian, but flushed closer and remained closer to the nest in the presence of a lawn mower. The presence of eye stickers decreased (pedestrians) and increased (lawn mowers) swooping behaviour. Masked Lapwings can discriminate between different human activities and adjust their defensive behaviour accordingly. We also conclude that the use of eye stickers is an effective method to mitigate the human-lapwing \u2018conflict\u2019 in some, but not all, circumstances.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani3030754","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,8,13]],"date-time":"2013-08-13T11:55:07Z","timestamp":1376394907000},"page":"754-766","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Swooping in the Suburbs; Parental Defence of an Abundant Aggressive Urban Bird against Humans"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"3","author":[{"given":"Daniel","family":"Lees","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Integrative Ecology, Faculty of Science, Engineering and the Built Environment,  Deakin University, 75 Pigdons Rd., Waurn Ponds, VIC 3216, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2099-0462","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Craig","family":"Sherman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Integrative Ecology, Faculty of Science, Engineering and the Built Environment,  Deakin University, 75 Pigdons Rd., Waurn Ponds, VIC 3216, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Grainne","family":"Maguire","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BirdLife Australia, Suite 2-05, The Green Building, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton, VIC 3052, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Dann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Department, Phillip Island Nature Parks, P.O. Box 97, Cowes, Phillip Island, VIC 3922, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Adam","family":"Cardilini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Integrative Ecology, Faculty of Science, Engineering and the Built Environment,  Deakin University, 75 Pigdons Rd., Waurn Ponds, VIC 3216, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Weston","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Integrative Ecology, Faculty of Science, Engineering and the Built Environment,  Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,8,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.5479\/si.00810282.9","article-title":"An Analysis of Nesting Mortality in Birds","volume":"9","author":"Ricklefs","year":"1969","journal-title":"Smithsonian Contrib. 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