Australia’s cunning Sulphur-crested Cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) seem to have entered an “innovation arms race” with humans, scientists say, as the two species bicker over trash in roadside bins.
The white birds, which can grow almost as long as a human arm, first surprised researchers by devising a sophisticated technique to open garbage lids in homes in Sydney and elsewhere.
Now a new study says they’ve gone a step further by thwarting escalating defenses from people who are fed up.
Bird and human behavior could reveal a previously unexplored “interspecies innovation arms race,” according to a study published on Monday Current Biology.
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Nestled between a forest and a surf-lashed beach and fringed by cliffs, the picturesque town of Stanwell Park near Sydney is at the forefront of the trash can battle.
“If we don’t close the trash can right after we throw the trash out, they’re going to be in there,” said Ana Culic, 21, manager of the city’s Loaf Cafe.
“Everywhere cockatoos. Just junk in the front.”
Her own family had tried in vain to scare away cockatoos with statues of owls. Then they tried to put stones on the trash can lids, but the cockatoos learned to remove them. Finally, they drilled a lock into the trash can.
“They continue to develop. Yeah, like you go back five to 10 years ago when they didn’t know how to open trash cans, so find out,” said the cafe’s chef, 42-year-old Matt Hodo.
flaps of the lid
Skie Jones, 40, who lives nearby, said he resorted to elastic cord to hold the lid of his household bin in place after the birds figured out how to remove a brick and then a larger rock.
“I have a feeling I’m going to go for a real suspension,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time.”
Common sightings show that a single cockatoo can open a container by holding the lid up with its beak while standing near the front edge.
Then, with the trash can lid still in his beak, he shuffles backwards to the hinge and pushes the lid higher and higher until it pops open.
The scientists found in a previous study that knowledge of the technique spread while other birds watched, creating local “traditions”.
Her new research shows that when people were frustrated with having their trash littered on the street, they learned to adapt. But then also the cockatoos.
”When we first looked at this behavior, we were amazed because the cockatoos were actually learning how to open the containers,” said the study’s lead author, Barbara Klump, a behavioral scientist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany.
When people responded, “I was really amazed at how many different methods people came up with,” she said.
As the cockatoos learned to overcome some of humans’ protective mechanisms, the two species seemed to engage in “gradual evolution and repetition,” the postdoc said.
“That was the most interesting part for me.”
Cumulating 3,283 tanks, the latest study found some cockatoos might defeat low-level protections like rubber snakes, which could be ignored, or bricks, which could be knocked off.
However, until now the cockatoos had been unable to overcome stronger methods such as an actual weight attached to the lid or an object stuck into the hinge to prevent the container from opening fully.
“Bricks seemed to work for a while, but hickeys got too smart,” one resident told researchers in an online poll that included more than 1,000 participants.
“Rats of Heaven”
Who wins the arms race?
“I think in the end it will be the people,” said Klump.
“But we’ll have to see how it plays out,” she added, explaining that it’s easy to underestimate the work people put in protecting their bins each week as some people are already relaxing their vigilance when the activity of the cockatoos decreases.
However, the garbage fight between species is unlikely to result in a new breed of even smarter cockatoos.
“They have some problem-solving ability, and we know they’re very curious and love to explore,” Klump said. “But I don’t think protecting the garbage cans makes the cockatoos any smarter.”
Despite the anger, many Stanwell Park residents say they have a soft spot for the birds.
“We call them the rats of heaven because they just love food,” said Katherine Erskine, 48, owner of café Uluwatu Blue in the city.
“They are beautiful and they are really loud – but I love them.”
© Agence France-Presse
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