If you have to ride a Swoopie Bird of Doom route, I still swear by the ham method. Many years ago I commuted through a double Magpie route, where my options were to pedal like fuck, or find another solution. Alas there really wasn't any way around that didn't involve an extra 10km or so.
I read through the interwebs that they had brilliant memories and could remember "faces" (which, incidentally was just confirmed when we visited the Alice Springs Desert Park last month, they have great memories for an image of a person or bird), as well as remember those which were threat or non-threat. So one week, just before I got to each Magpie Zone, I would get off my bike and start to walk through. As the bird started to swoop on the first day, I stopped, pulled out the magic of cold meats and tossed a bit on the ground in a gesture of good-will (or of absolute fear and desperation...). I did this for the rest of the week, and by the Friday, both birds flew down, but instead of swooping just let me by un-attacked. I rode for another 2 years through those sections without grief.
That was almost a decade ago now, and while I don't run that route anymore, I've still got the same helmet and commute kit (I know, it's pretty threadbare) and I reckon old birdies would recognise me.
In hindsight, supermarket ham might not have been the best option, but as they're omnivores, I gather it didn't do them too much harm. Next time I'll crack out the left over eye filet and really make a friend for life.