Clever birds open trash can and drink from water fountains

Clever birds open trash can and drink from water fountains

In Australia, the famous Weißhaubenkakadus, which are known for their striking appearance and loud screams, have developed a remarkable ability: they can activate water fountains to breastfeed their thirst. Before that, these intelligent birds have already learned to open garbage cans to get food. These new behaviors offer fascinating insights into the adaptability and social learning of animals in urban environments.

The history of the cacadus in Sydney

Especially in West Sydney, the cacadus inspire with their latest trick to drink water from public drinking fountains. Scientists discovered this behavior for the first time in 2018 and then began a study in which they marked 24 birds with transmitters and set up cameras near the fountains.

innovative techniques of the cacadus

Over a period of two months in autumn 2019, the researchers documented that many of the marked birds tried to drink from the fountains. These water fountains, also known as "Bubbler", can be activated with a rotary handle. This is easy for humans, but represents a challenge for animals. Nevertheless, the cacadus proved their intelligence and used different techniques: some stood on the handle with both feet, while others placed one leg and the other on the rubber outlet. By lowering their body weight, they turned the handle and gained access to the water.

success and challenges

Although the cacadus were not always successful-they only made it half of the time-there were five of the ten fountains "chewing traces", which show that the birds were already active there. This positive success indicates that the Kakadus has been using this technology for some time, which was confirmed by the researchers in their study published in the magazine Biology Letters.

skills in urban environments

The researchers have previously examined the Weißhaubenkakadus Sydney and published a study in 2021 that described their ability to open garbage cans with mops and feet. These innovative behaviors are not only amusing, but also show how well animals can adapt to urban environments and how important social learning is in the wildlife

unexplained questions and future research

However, questions remain unanswered. The researchers are not sure why the cacadus flock to the water fountains instead of using other easily accessible natural water sources. Initially, they suspected that the fountains could be an emergency source on particularly hot days, but this turned out to be wrong. Some theories indicate that the birds feel safer in public areas or prefer the taste of the fountain water - but this would require further studies.

promising innovations and new discoveries

The researchers are excited to see what other behaviors the cacadus could develop that have not yet been examined. "We were reported to many interesting innovations. For example, they learned to open school backpacks and steal lunch," explained Lucy M. Aplin, one of the co-authors of the study. "In some areas it has become such a big problem that the satchel no longer has to be left out, but have to be brought into the classroom!"