# Cockatoo dumpster diving

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockatoo-dumpster-diving/947175>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 24, 2021, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockatoo-dumpster-diving/947175 "2021-07-24T03:53:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockatoo-dumpster-diving/947175/1 "2021-07-24T03:53:38Z")

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News report that wild cockatoos in Sydney have learned how to flip open trash bin lids and scavenge for food. Not only that, but they’ve been able to teach other cockatoos how to do it.

> **[Wild Parrots in Australia Are Teaching Each Other How to Break Into Trash Bins](https://gizmodo.com/wild-parrots-in-australia-are-teaching-each-other-how-t-1847352386)**
>
> The socially learned behavior, and how it subtly differs between neighborhoods, is an example of animal culture, researchers say.

I blame social media. Yet another thing Twitter has to answer for.

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**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockatoo-dumpster-diving/947175/2 "2021-07-24T05:57:10Z")

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The cockatoos have only recently learnt that foraging technique from the country’s #1 urban scavenger, the White Ibis, aka the Australian Bin Chicken.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/w4dYWhkSbTU/maxresdefault.jpg "Planet Earth : Bin Chicken (4K)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4dYWhkSbTU)

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**Author:** ![steepone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@steepone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steepone)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockatoo-dumpster-diving/947175/3 "2021-07-24T06:37:31Z")

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Crows have been doing that for years

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**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockatoo-dumpster-diving/947175/4 "2021-07-24T12:36:36Z")

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The intelligence of birds, at least some species of them, has always been fascinating to me. Their brains evolved along a very different path than mammals, yet their intelligence rivals animals like dolphins.

I read an article recently speculating that crows, who can solve multiple stage puzzles in order to get a food reward, may have a conscious self-awareness similar to us.

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**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockatoo-dumpster-diving/947175/5 "2021-07-25T21:41:31Z")

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Birds are just biding their time until the  
Great War with Humanity during which the prophecy foretells that birds shall pull down not only humans but their feline overlords in the bloodiest act of vengeance the world has ever known.

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**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockatoo-dumpster-diving/947175/6 "2021-07-26T02:53:59Z")

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Will the longest-lived legacy of The Simpsons be, “I for one welcome our new xxxxxxxx overlords?”