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Cockatoos and People Trying to Outwit Each Other
Setting a new standard for how resourceful urban birds are
© Darren Puttock
In several neighborhoods of Sydney, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos have learned ways to open trash bins and grab some leftover food. Researchers found that birds in a given suburb seem to learn their trash bin opening technique from nearby birds, leading to subtle differences in how cockatoos raid the garbage throughout the city. This has pitted two highly intelligent species against each other as people have tried to come up with deterrence methods to keep birds away from the trash.
BirdNote®
Cockatoos and People Trying to Outwit Each Other
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[Sydney birdsong with Common Myna]
Many bird species have found ways to adapt to city living. But cockatoos in Sydney, Australia, are setting a new standard for how resourceful urban birds can be.
[Sulphur-crested Cockatoo calls]
In several neighborhoods of Sydney, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos have learned ways to open trash bins and grab some leftover food. Researchers found that birds in a given suburb seem to learn their trash bin opening technique from nearby birds, leading to subtle differences in how cockatoos raid the garbage throughout the city.
[Sulphur-crested Cockatoo calls]
As more and more cockatoos got the news about trash bins, people began improving their security measures. Residents started adding weights to the lids or trying to scare birds away with rubber snakes. Much like the birds, people often used whatever deterrence method their neighbors were using.
[Sulphur-crested Cockatoo calls]
Not every security method works — it turns out cockatoos can slide a brick off a bin lid and a toy snake will only fool a bird so many times. This could result in an arms race between the cockatoos and Sydney residents, as two highly intelligent species try to outwit each other … every trash day.
[One last Sulphur-crested Cockatoo squawk]
For BirdNote, I’m Ariana Remmel.
This episode is dedicated to Bob Goodale, whose lifelong love for birds and nature continues to inspire.
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Common Myna ML547949111 recorded by James Lambert, and Sulphur-crested Cockatoo ML43133651 recorded by Max Kirsch.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote February 2024
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# cockatoo-01-2024-02-16 cockatoo-01
References:
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)01285-4
https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/api/core/bitstreams/56be9e96-733f-4…
Ariana Remmel
Narrator
Conor Gearin
WriterSights & Sounds
