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Tenacious 'trash parrots' [cockatoos] locked in escalating 'arms race' with humans Down Under
.livescience.com ^ | Harry Baker

Posted on 09/14/2022 1:21:50 PM PDT by BenLurkin

Residents in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, are in the midst of an escalating feud with a neighboring population of wild sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) over an unlikely prize: household trash. While this conflict may sound comical, researchers report that it shows all the signs of an "innovation arms race," in which two species become trapped in a cycle of behavioral changes as they continually try to one-up or outthink one another.

The sharp-witted cockatoos have earned the unflattering nickname "trash parrots" after learning to open up flip-top garbage bins to pillage their contents. In 2018, videos shared online showed the resourceful birds grabbing onto the rims of bin lids with their beaks or feet, shimmying down toward the hinge and eventually flipping the plastic covers entirely off the containers. After watching the footage, researchers investigated the behavior and found that the cockatoos were working out how to open the bins by observing one another, which is known as social learning.

Since then, local residents have deployed numerous countermeasures — including bricks, sticks, locks and even rubber snakes — to prevent the cunning cockatoos from inadvertently covering the streets in trash. However, not all these countermeasures have proven to be effective at outwitting the cockatoos, who continue to outsmart the humans and break into bins where they can.

These countermeasures ranged from simple solutions, such as weighing down the lid with bricks or water bottles, to more ingenious ideas... However, the major limitation of all these countermeasures is that bin collectors must be able to easily remove the lid in order to collect the trash inside.

(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: cockatoos
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To: dangus

Looks like a Hitchcock movie!


21 posted on 09/14/2022 1:53:52 PM PDT by fwdude (Racism is not dead, but it is on life support - kept alive by politicians….” — Thomas Sowell)
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To: BenLurkin

“Trash Parrots” a new name for the Dems.

Those Aussies just need to put a lock on, then stand by to open the lock on Garbage Day.
Or, have one key to fit dozens of the same kind of lock.
The Garbage men could carry their own key.
Not overly mysterious.


22 posted on 09/14/2022 1:58:44 PM PDT by lee martell ( )
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To: BenLurkin

And then there’s Snowball the Cockatoo, the first non-human conclusively demonstrated to be capable of beat induction:[1] perceiving music and synchronizing his body movements to the beat (i.e. dancing).

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_(cockatoo)

And here’s Snowball rockin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7IZmRnAo6s

Having owned Parrots, the males love music with a beat.


23 posted on 09/14/2022 1:59:45 PM PDT by krogers58
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To: Jeff Chandler

Cockatoo verses the 12 gauge. The 12 gauge is undefeated!!


24 posted on 09/14/2022 2:00:20 PM PDT by Mouton (The enemy of the people is the media )
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To: dsrtsage

LOL!


25 posted on 09/14/2022 2:04:55 PM PDT by 1FreeAmerican
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To: Jeff Chandler

Look out, the cockatoos will peck your eye out.


26 posted on 09/14/2022 2:06:57 PM PDT by packagingguy
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To: BenLurkin

Four wheels scare the cockatoos
From Kintore, east to Yuendemu
The Western Desert lives and breathes
In forty-five degrees


27 posted on 09/14/2022 2:08:06 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: fwdude

Thousands. $2500 and up sometimes.


28 posted on 09/14/2022 2:20:03 PM PDT by Republican in occupied CA (I will not give up on my native State! Here I was born, here I fight and die!!)
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To: BenLurkin

Flying three year old with a chisel and a pair of pliers.


29 posted on 09/14/2022 2:21:03 PM PDT by Republican in occupied CA (I will not give up on my native State! Here I was born, here I fight and die!!)
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To: BenLurkin

30 posted on 09/14/2022 2:36:37 PM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: 9422WMR
Imagine if those flocks were in the US, and all trained to say FJB!

At full volume!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMg0rf94xuE

31 posted on 09/14/2022 2:42:45 PM PDT by TChad ("Joe, we should evacuate the civilians before the military. You understand that, right? Joe?")
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To: BenLurkin

The Australian Military took on emus and lost. Search “Great Emu War”.


32 posted on 09/14/2022 2:44:12 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim ( )
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To: dangus

Reminds me of Australia’s 2021 mouse plague, the stuff of nightmares. Although not as procreative, this current plague can fly.


33 posted on 09/14/2022 3:43:53 PM PDT by skr (Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. - Proverbs 14:34)
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To: fwdude

They are worth thousands and are extraordinary pets. The Aussie gov’t slaughters them by the millions and prevents their export absolutely, punishable by imprisonment and outrageous fines.


34 posted on 09/14/2022 4:39:24 PM PDT by Louis Foxwell (Seek refuge in Christ. He is your sword and shield.)
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To: skr

Oh, no. That’s not a plague. That’s just a large flock in normal conditions.


35 posted on 09/14/2022 7:46:28 PM PDT by dangus
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To: Candor7

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=angry+cockatoo%2c+video&view=detail&mid=0FF5F8BC2805709C92550FF5F8BC2805709C9255&FORM=VIRE

language warning


36 posted on 09/14/2022 8:02:13 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (Fair Dinkum!)
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To: 1FreeAmerican

So, they are Democrats! Explains much, it does...................


37 posted on 09/15/2022 5:02:15 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: allwrong57

We had a Quaker parrot.....................

https://facts.net/quaker-parrot-facts/


38 posted on 09/15/2022 5:05:00 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Fred Nerks

Yes, I saw that some tme agai. Imagine someone teaching obscenities to a whole flock of dumpster diving cockatoos?

Thats cringeworthy! LOL.


39 posted on 09/15/2022 8:58:26 AM PDT by Candor7 (ObamaFascism:https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html)
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To: fwdude
The solution there is to zip tie that brick onto the lid.

Drill four small holes around the brick, and zip tie through the holes. You'll keep the weight there enough to the bird can't get in, but the collectors will be able to easily.

40 posted on 09/15/2022 9:05:48 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack )
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