Wild sulphur-crested cockatoos in western Sydney have learned to operate public drinking fountains. They grip a twist handle with a foot, lean their bodies into the mechanism to keep water flowing, and drink from the stream—a behavior researchers recorded hundreds of times rather than a one-off curiosity.
A population of wild sulphur-crested cockatoos in western Sydney has learned to operate public drinking fountains. A bird grips the fountain’s twist handle with a foot, uses its bill and body weight to turn and hold the mechanism, then drinks from the stream it creates.
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This is not just a single remarkable sighting. Researchers systematically recorded the behavior at one public fountain over 44 days, capturing 525 attempted uses. The birds succeeded in 41% of those attempts, and 46% of the individually marked cockatoos successfully engaged with the fountain. The findings were published in Biology Letters in June 2025.
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How the cockatoos operate the fountain
The fountain is a conventional public bubbler with a twist-style handle. Using a sequence that is difficult for a bird to perform, a cockatoo:
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- Approaches and grips the fountain’s stem or handle.
- Uses a foot to twist the handle.
- Leans its body into the mechanism, transferring enough weight to keep the spring-loaded valve open.
- Positions its head and bill to drink from the resulting stream.
The movement is more than a simple “turn the tap” trick. The bird must coordinate its feet, bill, posture and shifting body weight while maintaining its balance on the fountain. The exact maneuver varies with the bird’s position and the resistance of the mechanism, which may help explain why many attempts do not succeed.
Researchers described the behavior in a peer-reviewed study of the western Sydney population. The study documents the birds’ repeated use of the fountain; it does not show that every cockatoo in the area can perform the technique.
What the numbers actually show
| Measure | Finding |
|---|---|
| Observation period | 44 days of intensive monitoring |
| Recorded attempts | 525 fountain-use attempts |
| Successful attempts | 41% overall |
| Marked cockatoos that succeeded | 46% of the 24 individually marked birds |
| Usual visiting times | Around dawn and dusk |
| Persistence | The behavior had continued for at least two years when reported in the study |
These percentages describe different things. The 41% figure is the proportion of recorded attempts that ended successfully. The 46% figure is the proportion of marked individuals that were observed successfully engaging with the behavior. Neither number is a population-wide “mastery rate,” and neither means that all cockatoos have learned to use fountains.
ABC reported that roughly 70% of the birds associated with a nearby roost used the fountain, but that estimate should likewise be kept separate from the study’s attempt and marked-individual figures. The most defensible conclusion is that the behavior is established among a substantial local group, not that it is universal among sulphur-crested cockatoos.
A local innovation, not a Sydney-wide cockatoo habit
The behavior was observed in a population associated with western Sydney, including the Western Sydney Parklands area. Researchers reported that they had not documented the same fountain behavior elsewhere at the time of publication. Different local councils also use different fountain designs, so the opportunity may not exist in the same form in other areas.
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The lead author, Barbara Klump, first noticed the behavior in 2018, according to reporting on the discovery. The peer-reviewed research documents that it persisted for at least two years before publication. Those details support a careful timeline: the behavior was noticed years before the 2025 paper, and it was still present during the researchers’ formal observations.
The researchers call it an innovation because the birds are using a human-made object in a newly documented way. They also interpret its persistence and localized distribution as consistent with a local tradition. That does not prove a complete chain of cultural transmission. Scientists have not reconstructed which bird first discovered the technique, nor demonstrated experimentally that other cockatoos copied the full sequence from it.
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Possibly—but there is no evidence yet to make that the definite explanation.
The fountain is used by humans, so one possibility is that cockatoos discovered the opportunity by watching people manipulate it. Another is that one bird independently worked out part of the technique and other birds were attracted to the fountain or learned from observing successful attempts. Social influence among cockatoos is plausible, but the study did not experimentally distinguish between human observation, cockatoo-to-cockatoo learning, individual trial and error, or a combination of these processes.
The evidence establishes that multiple birds in the same local population perform the behavior and that it has persisted. It does not establish that one cockatoo copied the entire motor sequence from another or that a human demonstrated it to the birds.
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Why use a public fountain when natural water is available?
The researchers do not yet know. The western Sydney cockatoos had access to other water sources, so the fountain has not been shown to be essential for their survival.
Several explanations have been proposed:
- Predictability: A public fountain may provide a reliable, renewable flow when it is functioning.
- Water characteristics: The birds may prefer its taste or cleanliness, although this has not been demonstrated.
- Safety: The raised fountain may allow a bird to drink without crouching at ground level, potentially reducing exposure to predators. This is an expert hypothesis, not a tested result.
- Enrichment: Manipulating a difficult mechanism may itself be rewarding, in addition to providing water.
These possibilities are not mutually exclusive. A fountain could be attractive because it is predictable and elevated, while the challenge of operating it may also reward the birds. Testing those ideas would require comparing fountain use with nearby natural water sources, measuring water quality and availability, and examining whether predator vigilance differs between locations.
How this differs from the cockatoos’ bin-opening behavior
Sulphur-crested cockatoos are already famous in Sydney for opening household rubbish bins to reach food. That behavior has spread across parts of the city and is one of the clearest examples of the species’ ability to exploit urban infrastructure.
The fountain behavior is related but distinct:
| Bin opening | Fountain use |
|---|---|
| Provides access to food | Provides access to water |
| Involves manipulating a bin lid | Requires a coordinated twist-and-weight sequence on a spring-loaded handle |
| Has spread across parts of Sydney | Was documented in the western Sydney population studied |
| Has been reported as more strongly associated with males | Was observed among birds of different ages and sexes |
Together, the behaviors show that urban flexibility is not limited to finding food. The same species can exploit human structures for different resources when its anatomy, learning ability and the local design of the city make that possible.
What the discovery says about animal culture
Animal culture is often associated with learned songs, calls or foraging traditions. The fountain case illustrates another possibility: a locally shared mechanical behavior. It combines an object in the environment, a precise motor sequence and repeated opportunities for other animals to encounter the same solution.
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Calling it a tradition does not mean the birds have human-like teaching institutions or that every individual understands the mechanism in the same way. In this context, the term points to a behavior that is:
- unusual and newly documented for the species;
- concentrated in one population rather than widespread everywhere;
- performed by multiple individuals; and
- persistent over time.
Those features make social transmission a reasonable possibility, but they are not proof of the exact route by which the behavior spread. Long-term observation, records of juveniles and adults, and experiments that track exposure to experienced birds would be needed to resolve that question.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What it means for urban wildlife
The fountain is a small example of a larger urban-wildlife problem: cities create both obstacles and opportunities. Roads, buildings and artificial surfaces can remove habitat, while fountains, food waste, parks and other infrastructure can create new resources. Species that are behaviorally flexible may discover ways to use those resources that city planners never anticipated.
That does not mean every urban adaptation is beneficial. A reliable water point may help birds cope with a modified landscape, but concentrated wildlife around public infrastructure can also create hygiene, maintenance and human-wildlife conflict concerns. The study did not test a management intervention or establish that the fountain should be altered, protected or supplied for the birds.
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The broader planning lesson is more cautious: urban design can influence which animals are able to live in a city and how they interact with people. Supporting biodiversity and managing highly adaptable species may need to be considered together rather than treated as separate issues. As ABC’s coverage of the research discusses, the case raises questions about how public infrastructure can support—and sometimes complicate—coexistence.
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What we can and cannot conclude
Supported by the research
- Wild sulphur-crested cockatoos in western Sydney operated a twist-handle public drinking fountain.
- The birds used their feet, bills, posture and body weight in a coordinated sequence.
- Researchers recorded 525 attempts over 44 days.
- Attempts succeeded 41% of the time overall.
- Forty-six percent of 24 marked birds successfully engaged with the fountain.
- The behavior persisted for at least two years and was documented among multiple local birds.
Not yet established
- That all sulphur-crested cockatoos—or all Australian cockatoos—can use fountains.
- That the behavior occurs throughout Sydney.
- That the birds learned the technique by watching humans or another cockatoo.
- That fountain water is cleaner or better tasting than natural water.
- That the fountain is necessary for the birds’ survival.
- That the behavior represents a fully proven cultural transmission chain.
The most accurate takeaway is also the most interesting: a particular western Sydney population appears to have developed and maintained a difficult way to use a particular kind of human infrastructure. It is a striking demonstration of cockatoo flexibility, while leaving the deeper questions—who discovered it, how it spread and why the birds prefer it—open for further research.
Frequently Asked Questions
What species of cockatoo uses the drinking fountains?
The documented birds are sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) in western Sydney. The finding should not be generalized to all cockatoo species or all Australian cockatoos.
How successful are the cockatoos at using the fountains?
Researchers recorded 525 attempts over 44 days. The birds succeeded in 41% of attempts overall, while 46% of 24 marked cockatoos successfully engaged with the fountain.
Did the cockatoos learn the trick from one another?
Not definitively. The behavior’s persistence and presence among multiple local birds are consistent with a local tradition, but researchers have not proven whether birds copied one another, watched humans, or developed the technique through individual trial and error.
Why do the cockatoos use fountains instead of natural water?
The study did not establish that the fountain is necessary. Nearby natural water sources were available, and possible explanations—including predictable flow, water preference, safety and enrichment—remain hypotheses.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Wild sulphur-crested cockatoos in western Sydney have repeatedly learned to twist and hold public drinking-fountain handles so they can drink. Researchers recorded the behavior systematically, but it remains a localized innovation—not evidence that cockatoos everywhere use fountains or that scientists have proven exactly how the technique spread.
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