An arms race over food waste: Sydney cockatoos are still opening roadside trash cans, despite our efforts to stop them

Bloody Hell! This cockatoo just opened my trash can and is eating my leftover pizza. We can’t have that, I put a rock on the lid so it doesn’t open the trash can. Problem solved…?

And so began an arms race in the South Sydney suburbs: people trying to stop Sulphur-crested Cockatoos from opening roadside rubbish bins, and Cockatoos overcoming their deterrence to feast on our food waste.

Cockatoos in southern Sydney can only open roadside rubbish bins, but this behavior seems to be spreading. Last year, we published research showing that this behavior is an amazing display of “social learning,” as birds learn the technique of opening trash cans by observing their neighbors.

This had global implications – it meant we could add parrots to the list of animals capable of collecting culture, which also includes chimpanzees, humpback whales and New Caledonian crows.

Our new study, released today, documents 50 ways to protect garbage cans. It’s another example of a global problem of human-wildlife conflict—indeed, it’s rare to document a change in behavior from one species in response to the actions of another.

Cockatoos make a mess

While fascinating, the opening of trash cans by cockatoos can also cause a mess. The birds scavenge for food and occasionally throw objects in the path. Needless to say, coming home to find your rubbish strewn on the floor in front of your house is undesirable.

Also, some people are concerned that the food being eaten is not healthy for the cockies, such as pizza, bread, or chicken.

This arms race is a unique story as we show that it involves social learning not only by cockatoos but also by humans in response.

In our community survey, participants reported how and when they protected their garbage cans from cockatoos, changed their garbage can protection in response to the roaches solving a method, and learned new protection methods from their neighbors.

Our research shows that people have escalated their methods of discouraging cockatoos from opening trash cans over time as cockies have overcome their efforts. These appear to prevent or hinder cockatoos from opening the dustbin lid (at least for now), while allowing them to empty it when the dustbin is turned over by the garbage truck.

Help us learn more about opening trash cans across Oz, including reporting where – you “have” AND “haven’t” – saw this behaviorhttps://t.co/vKfGFoWqTb@BigCityBirds1 @DrBarbaraKlump @LucyMaplin

Please share @BirdlifeOz @UrbanBirdsOz @CitSciOZ @Sydney_Science @austmus @NSWDPE pic.twitter.com/WMhMTN90tE

– dr John Martin (@wingtags) August 28, 2022

From rubber snakes to custom locks

Our research has observed the many innovative ways to prevent cockatoos from opening containers, but we plan to evaluate the success of different methods in more detail in the future.

We’ll start with the quick and easy method of placing a rock, wood, metal, or bottle filled with water on the lid of the trash can, making it too heavy for a cockatoo to lift. If the object is heavy enough it should work.

If this is not the case, a cockatoo can push it off, open the lid and eat, as the video below shows.

A more sophisticated solution is to screw wood, metal, or brick to the lid, or attach the bottles to the top or bottom of the lid. This method permanently makes the lid too heavy and appears to be an effective deterrent.

Another popular method is to prevent the lid of the trash can from popping open via a rope, bungee cord, metal spring, or stick passed through the handle or hinge. These methods have had varying degrees of success.

Attaching a custom-made lock was also popular and, when done correctly, seems to deter rogues. These locks allow the bin to be opened if it is turned upside down by the refuse truck.

Some people placed metal or plastic spikes around the rim to prevent the birds from landing, or they installed barriers to prevent a bird from getting its beak under the trash can lid. These methods seemed to work.

Methods with poor results include modifying the container lid to discourage the birds from landing or walking by causing them discomfort, e.g. B. with nets. And the goal of scaring the birds away by attaching a rubber snake is an interesting method, but not a popular one, so it may not be effective.

Still, the race continues, both in the suburbs where we studied this novel behavior and in new suburbs, as this fast-food-seeking behavior spreads to neighboring suburbs and, over time, beyond.

An example of human-wildlife conflict

We classify the opening of cockatoo barrels as “human-wildlife conflict”. Such conflicts are common, from possums on a household rooftop, to the official rubbish chicken (the Australian white ibis) scavenging for free food, to flying foxes roosting in urban areas or foraging in orchards.

Conflicts can result from noise, smells, feces, damage to crops, gardens or buildings, or threats to people, livestock or pets.

Conflicts between humans and wildlife are widespread and varied around the world – think lions eating cattle, monkeys stealing tourist cameras, pigeons pooping and nesting in cities, seals sleeping on boats, sharks biting people, ducks that eat grain, and snakes that share a home.

Our attempts to deal with such conflicts can have tragic consequences for wildlife. An extreme example is shark nets, which kill sharks but do not prevent them from reaching the beach. They also kill or capture non-target — and sometimes endangered — species like turtles, dolphins, nurse sharks, and whales.

We should instead learn to live alongside wildlife, especially since “conflict species” may be threatened, such as the grey-headed fruit bat (an important pollinator) or the great white shark (an important predator).

In many cases of human-wildlife conflict, public education makes a major contribution to conflict reduction. Understanding wildlife behavior and appreciating the fascinating traits of native species often changes community attitudes in a positive way – we can learn to love them instead of fighting them.

Whether it’s finding new and harmless ways to protect your trash can from hungry cockatoos or acting shark-like, there are positive actions we can take if we’re informed.

To support our ongoing research, please take the 2022 Container Opening Survey and report whether you’ve seen, ‘have’, or ‘haven’t’ cockatoos opening containers.

This article was republished by The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.