Editorial

Ornithophobia The Fear of Birds

Ornithophobia is the extreme or irrational fear of birds.

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Some of the Causes Ways to Overcome of Ornithophobia Therapy is recommended to Phobias can develop at any age, although it is common for them to develop during childhood.

It is unclear of what causes specific phobias.

Some potential causes can include: Personal experiences.

help confront individuals of their fear. This practice generally uses strategies such as replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, learning techniques to relax and stay calm when Ornithophobia causes anxiety and gradual exposure to birds to help diminish the emotional response.

If a person has experienced a negative incident involving birds, such as being attacked by a bird, they may develop a fear of them.

A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder that can causes an person to experience extreme, irrational fear about a situation, living creature, place, or object.

Interesting Fact: Celebrities David Beckham and Eminem both have ornithophobia.

David Beckham is afraid of large birds and Eminem fear is of owls.

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Symptoms of the phobia can vary depending on the severity.

Some people may only be afraid of large birds or certain types of birds others may be afraid of all types, including photographs or fake birds.

When people with ornithophobia come face to face with birds, some physical symptoms that may occur include: • Shaking or trembling • Freezing in place • Running away or attempting to hide • Racing heartbeat • Pain or tightness in the chest

Information learning.

Each person processes fear and anxiety in different ways.

It is possible for some people to be born with a tendency to be more anxious than others.

Some Symptoms

• Crying

A phobia may be developed from knowing a person with the same phobia. A person can learn the fear from someone close to them.

Genetics.

Different folklore and beliefs have been related with birds which present these aerial creatures as evil and harmful.

There are beliefs about albatross being a messenger of bad luck or ravens being messenger of death and devastation.

Extreme concentration on these kinds of superstition can also result a person to be Ornithophobic.

What is a Phobia?

Observational learning.

A person can develop a fear or phobia from reading or hearing about negative or dangerous situations involving birds.

Ancient Beliefs

When To See a Doctor If the phobia have been effecting you for a time of more than six months, and is affecting your day to day living, you might need to see a doctor.

Ornithophobia might not be a big problem for someone who fears only large and harmful birds like vultures. It’s a problem when you start to fear when leaving your household and can easily get scared of birds like crows and pigeons. This can cause you to get distress and can cause you to completely avoid the outside world. In such cases, treatment will become necessary.

When a person has a phobia, they will often work there life around to avoid what they consider to be dangerous.

The imagined threat is greater than any actual threat posed by the cause of terror.

Phobias are diagnosable mental disorders.

The person will experience intense distress when faced with the source of their phobia.

This can prevent them from functioning normally and sometimes leads to panic attacks.

Psychological symptoms can include: • An overwhelming feeling of anxiety or fear • An awareness that the fear or anxiety is exaggerated, but being unable to control it • Feeling the need to escape or run away • Fear of losing control

Fear of birds is termed “ornithophobia,” a word derived from the Greek and “ornithos” (bird) and “phobos” (fear).

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Living With The Phobia Birds are extremely common throughout the world and it is almost impossible go anywhere without seeing a bird. It is common for people that suffer Ornithophobia to avoid outdoor activities. People often avoid participating in outings such as: Picnics, parks or beaches Going to pet shops Sometimes also becoming afraid to leave their house altogether due to the fear of confronting a bird.

Children and Ornithophobia Young children can develop Ornithophobia if they have felt threatened by aggressive birds like vultures, hawks or geese.

Sometimes, the birds might not have shown any violence, but their mere presence at traumatic events such as funerals or accidents can be enough to trigger a phobia in a young child.

Birds flying inside the homes through an open window and causing upheaval might have made the parents nervous and this can trigger anxiety attack in the child.

In 2017, there were 3,375 bird attacks across Australia and 540 injuries caused

by Magpies.

Magpie Season

Poisoning Pigeons in the Park

Magpie season runs from July through to November, however the start of Spring is when magpie swooping generally begins.

By Tom Lehrer Spring is here, spring is here Life is skittles and life is beer I think the loveliest time of the year Is the spring, I do, don’t you? Course you do But there’s one thing that makes spring complete for me And makes every Sunday a treat for me All the world seems in tune on a spring afternoon When we’re poisoning pigeons in the park Every Sunday you’ll see my sweetheart and me As we poison the pigeons in the park When they see us coming The birdies all try and hide But they still go for peanuts When coated with cyanide The sun’s shining bright Everything seems all right When we’re poisoning pigeons in the park We’ve gained notoriety And caused much anxiety In the Audobon Society With our games They call it impiety And lack of propriety And quite a variety of unpleasant names But it’s not against any religion To want to dispose of a pigeon

Protecting Yourself from a Magpie Protection from bird attacks vary from holding up umbrellas or sticks, traveling in a group, facing the bird so they can see a persons face and eyes, avoiding an area for up to six weeks, making friends with the bird by offering food and putting fake eyes on the back of a helmet or ice- cream container.

FYI: THE EYES DON’T WORK!!!

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Magpies protecting their Babies Studies have shown that only 9% of magpies become aggressive towards humans in order to protect their nests. Generally the male magpies are the ones that protect the nests. Magpies protect areas known as ‘defense zones’ which range to 100-150 meters of their nests. Young magpies will stay i their nests for up to 6 weeks on average and the defensive behavior ends once the young leave the nest.

So if Sunday you’re free Why don’t you come with me And we’ll poison the pigeons in the park And maybe we’ll do in a squirrel or two While we’re poisoning pigeons in the park We’ll murder them amid laughter and merriment Except for the few we take home to experiment My pulse will be quickenin’ With each drop of strychnine We feed to a pigeon It just takes a smidgin To poison a pigeon in the park

Interesting Fact: Magpies occupy the same territory for their entire life.

Once they find a suitable patch, they will stay there forever up to 20 years, 6