Watch | Australian ‘trash parrots’ develop unique drinking ritual seen for the first time

Wild cockatoos in Sydney, Australia have developed a new way to drink water from twisted-handle water fountains. They use their feet to grip and turn the handle, then lower their body to keep it open.

The video shows the wild cockatoos standing in a queue, and waiting for their turn to have a drink, demonstrating surprising social behaviour. According to a study published on June 4 in the journal Biology Letters, this behaviour qualifies as a newly developed local tradition. The researchers say this skill is not accidental and reflects the cockatoos’ intelligence and ability to adapt to urban environments in creative ways.

Clever cockatoos new learning to drink water from fountains

It’s not yet clear why Cockatoos choose to drink water specifically from the fountain, despite other water sources also available. The cockatoos use both feet to manipulate the twist handle, then lowering their weight to turn the handle clockwise and keep it from springing back. Around 50% of all the cockatoos succeeded in drinking water from the fountain, after many trials.

The research team installed two motion-triggered cameras surrounding one drinking fountain with a rubber top with embedded spout, and a spring-loaded twist handle.

As they analyzed the video they observed that operating these water fountains is not easy to just stumble upon by accident.Cockatoos local to Australia are intelligent birds, they can use tools, solve puzzles and play golf. In Sydney, these clever birds have figured out how to open trash bins, which is why locals call them “trash parrots”. They even manage to outwit humans trying to deter them in what scientists describe as an “innovation arms race”.

Know about cockatoos birds

Cockatoos are colorful birds with distinctive curved beaks and strong tongues, perfect for foraging for nuts, roots, and grubs. They're known for nesting in tree holes and gathering in loud flocks. Their playful, affectionate nature makes them popular pets, with some living over 50 years. The sulfur-crested cockatoo, with its bright yellow crest, is a favorite due to its striking appearance and charming personality.

However, their long lifespan and intelligence mean they require dedicated care and attention.The highly social birds forage in flocks numbering from dozens to 100 and gather at night, often in trees near water. While the flock is feeding, a few birds guard in trees, keeping a watch to alert others with loud and noisy calls.

Researchers view about the Cockatoos

Alice Auersperg, cognitive biologist at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna in Austria who was not a part of the new study, told Live Science, “Cockatoos have a playful curiosity”.

She added, "They are highly persistent in their object manipulation, and easily reinforced if a behaviour turns out to be rewarding”. Another researcher of Western Sydney in 2018 came across the sulphur-crested cockatoos lined up to use a twisted handle watering fountain. “When she reported this to the lab group, we all got very excited, and started planning how to best further study this unusual behaviour”, study co-author Lucy Aplin, a cognitive ecologist at Australian National University shared with Live Science in an email.Berenika Mioduszewska, animal cognition researcher at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, shared with Live Science, “I was not surprised to see that cockatoos in Sydney had learned how to use water fountains. These birds are highly curious and manipulative. If the design of a fountain incidentally allows for cockatoo manipulation, it may only be a matter of time before an inquisitive individual starts playing with it and discovers a new source of water”.

The research is a part of a larger project, “Clever Cockie Project”, which studies how behavioral flexibility could enable complex species like cockatoos to adapt in cities. “The paper also highlights the importance of persistence and focus: longer attempts at the water fountains, and those made when fewer other cockatoos were present, were significantly more likely to succeed,” Mioduszewska said. He added, “It offers a valuable lesson from the cockatoos- when mastering a skill, it is important to keep trying and to minimize distractions whenever possible”.Also read| White Sharks now found in this new US location