In each trial, the cockatoos were offered different combinations of food — cooked pasta, cauliflower, potatoes and carrots — alongside water, blueberry soy yogurt and plain soy yogurt.

One cockatoo lifts the lid of a trash can while several others watch. Scientists say the birds are teaching each other how to open the bins.

First, these parrots learned to open trash cans to forage for food. Now, they’ve taken it a step further – and have figured out how to turn on water fountains for a sip along with their meal.

In suburban Sydney, sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) previously figured out how to break into garbage bins and have now deciphered human water fountains. Photograph By Doug Gimesy ...

Wild cockatoos are learning how to use water fountains Nabbing a drink is just the latest skill for this innovative group of Australian birds. Andrew Paul Jun 4, 2025 11:18 AM EDT ...

A handful of cockatoos in the Sydney suburbs have figured out how to use public drinking fountains, an innovation that more and more of the birds have adopted over the past few years. Klump et al ...

First, these parrots learned to open trash cans to forage for food. Now, they’ve taken it a step further – and have figured out how to turn on water fountains for a sip along with their meal.

Clever cockatoos vs. water fountains That’s why, even though Klump has studied innovations in these cockatoos for years, she took note when she saw a line of the birds waiting their turn on a ...