![]() ![]() Geographically separated cockatoo populations have different bin-opening techniques once one bird figures out how to flip the lid, other birds in the area watch and learn. Publishing their findings in Sciencein 2021, they showed that Sulfur-crested Cockatoos, which are native to forests of eastern and northern Australia, have developed this skill not only once but multiple times. Fascinated, the scientists wanted to know how cockatoos learned this new trick. Scientists first documented the cockatoos’ clever behavior eight years ago when Richard Major, an ornithologist at the Australian Museum Research Institute in Sydney, filmed a cockatoo opening a bin and shared it with colleagues. Once she’s had her fill, she hops to the bin next door. Then she flips the lid and reaches in, tossing out trash to uncover last night’s leftovers: bread and pizza. Standing on the bin’s edge, she pushes the brick with her beak until it falls off the edge. But ultimately it’s no sweat for this bird. One trash can owner has placed a brick on the lid to deter cockatoos. It takes some effort, but by stretching their legs, extending their necks, and tight-rope walking along the edge of a can, cockatoos can successfully use their beaks to flip open the hinged lids that are standard in Sydney’s suburbs. Within the past decade, Australia’s native parrots have figured out, and taught each other, how to open trash can lids. It’s trash day-the best day of the week for Sulfur-crested Cockatoos in southern Sydney. ![]()
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