I, For One, Welcome Our New Cockatoo Overlords; Bird Populations In Sydney Have Learned To Use Water Fountains
Sulphur-crested cockatoos in Sydney have worked out how to operate drinking fountains, with footage showing the white birds gripping and turning the handle before leaning in for a sip.
Researchers set up camera traps and recorded the birds taking turns at a drinking fountain in western Sydney. Scientists observed more than 500 attempts over 44 days and revealed the birds were successful about 46% of the time. “The behaviour consists of a combination of actions involving both feet, bill and shifting body weight to start the water flow,” the researchers said in their paper.
Dr John Martin, a senior ecologist at Ecosure and co-author of the study, said they stumbled on the complex behaviour at a twist-handle-operated bubbler located in a western Sydney sports field while surveying cockatoo foraging habits. “So they would go and stand on it, and then they would have to grip the handle and actually push it forwards to activate it, and then lean over and have a drink.”
Presumably the birds first learned what to do by watching people, Martin said. “Eventually one of them got it, and then the others were like, ‘ah, this is fun’.” The cockatoos learned by watching others and then trying themselves, he said.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/04/cockatoos-drink-from-sydney-water-fountains