A crackle of sulfur-crested cockatoos in Western Sydney have figured out how to grab a drink from a park water fountain.
We already knew this species of birds (Cacatua galerita) were a clever bunch: a few years ago, they figured out how to open the lids of wheely bins to feast upon the treasures within. And when humans tried to protect the trash from these brainy birds, the cockatoos simply adapted.
Now, they’ve learnt how to use twist-handle water fountains, which require a complex sequence of actions that we humans may take for granted.
Following initial sightings of the behavior across 2018 and 2019, a team of biologists led by Barbara Klump at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany set up motion-triggered wildlife cameras at one park fountain, monitoring the spot across 44 days.
In that time, the cockatoos made 525 attempts to drink from the fountain, using their feet, bill and body weight to get the water flowing, with a 41 percent success rate.
These rowdy birds tended to visit the fountain at dawn and dusk, when, like parched school children at the end of gym class, they would queue up for a turn to drink.
Watch them in action:
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The birds used the drinking fountain regularly and extensively, not just on hot days as the researchers expected.
“Alternative hypotheses could include that drinking-fountain water tastes better than alternatives, that its use represents contrafreeloading behavior, or that the placement of drinking fountains in open areas provides anti-predator benefits. These remain to be tested,” the researchers report.
“This behavior appears to be widely adopted in the local population, suggesting it has spread through social learning to establish as a local tradition.”
Now that’s something to dance about.
The research is published in Biology Letters.
