Wild sulphur-crested cockatoos in Sydney learned to lift household waste-bin lids to reach food scraps, and the way the behavior spread across suburbs is consistent with social learning. The studies behind that finding focus on bin-opening and residents’ efforts to stop it; they do not establish a full list of the birds’ other urban food sources.
How do cockatoos open household bins?
The research concerns wild sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) in Sydney, not captive pet birds. The birds lift household waste-bin lids to get at discarded food. Researchers recorded different opening styles, including variation between suburbs, rather than one identical technique used everywhere.
How did researchers conclude the behavior was socially learned?
In a 2021 study published in Science, Klump and colleagues analyzed community reports and direct observations. Reports of bin-opening expanded from three Sydney suburbs to 44. The researchers also analyzed 160 direct observations and found individual styles as well as differences between sites. The geographic spread and local variation support the interpretation that cockatoos learn the behavior by observing other birds.
This is evidence consistent with social learning, not an experimental record of every bird copying a demonstrator. The study does not identify the exact first bird or the precise moment the behavior began. The Australian Museum quoted lead author Barbara Klump describing the different techniques observed in different suburbs as suggesting that the behavior is learned by watching others: Australian Museum, “Clever cockatoos learn through social interaction”.
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What do the survey figures mean?
The 44-suburb figure describes where reports of bin-opening had spread during the study period; it does not mean the behavior was reported in all suburbs surveyed. ABC reported that an online survey launched in 2018 asked residents across 478 Sydney and Wollongong suburbs whether they had seen the behavior and when. By late 2019, reports came from 44 suburbs. The 478 figure is survey coverage as reported by ABC, not a count of suburbs where bin-opening was confirmed: ABC News, 2021.
These are figures from the study and contemporaneous reporting, not a measure of how common bin-opening is today. The primary study is indexed at PubMed.
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How have residents responded?
A 2022 follow-up study examined residents’ bin-protection measures alongside cockatoos’ socially learned bin-opening. It describes the interaction as a potential interspecies innovation arms race: people develop ways to secure bins, while birds may adapt their foraging. “Potential” is important; the work documents a developing back-and-forth, not a universal or settled contest. The follow-up is indexed at PubMed, and ANU’s project page summarizes the research program.
If you need to protect a bin, a lid lock or strap is a relevant type of measure, but these studies do not test or endorse a particular product. Check that a device fits your bin, can be removed easily for collection, and complies with your local council or waste-service rules.
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What else do cockatoos eat in cities?
The bin-opening studies show that food waste in household bins is one urban food source these cockatoos exploit. They do not provide a complete dietary inventory or establish what other foods the birds eat in cities. Specific claims about additional food sources need evidence from research that examines those foods directly.
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