A Clever Cockatoo Picked up a Human Skill—and Then It Spread

Wild cockatoos are learning how to use water fountains

Nabbing a drink is just the latest skill for this innovative group of Australian birds.

Clever cockies not only open bins, they can use water fountains too

The behaviour has spread among a mob of more than 100 sulphur-crested cockatoos that roost in the Western Sydney Parklands.

Crafty cockatoos learn to use public drinking fountains

Sulphur-crested cockatoos are waiting in line at public drinking fountains in Sydney to have their daily drinks of water in the latest example of cultural evolution in urban birds

A clever cockatoo picked up a human skill—and then it spread

Sulphur-crested cockatoos have previously mastered garbage bins. Now, it’s water fountains.

Aussie cockatoos use their beaks and claws to turn on water fountains

Parrots living in Sydney have learned how to turn on water fountains for a drink. It's the first such drinking strategy seen in the birds.