Drinking Fountains Are No Longer Just for Humans

Wild cockatoos have learned to adapt to life in this human-dominated world, opening garbage cans to grab a meal and, according to a fascinating new study on the birds in Australia's capital, sipping from public drinking fountains. These are no push-button drinking fountains, but ones that use a twist handle, per the Guardian. Sulphur-crested cockatoos, which have dexterous toes for gripping, "deftly use one foot to twist the handle open while their other claw grips the spout," per the New York Times. "The behavior consists of a combination of actions involving both feet, bill and shifting body weight to start the water flow," according to the study published Wednesday in Biology Letters.

Researchers first observed the behavior while surveying cockatoo foraging habits at a western Sydney sports field. The parrots would stand on the fountain, grip the handle, "then lean over and have a drink," says study co-author John Martin, a senior ecologist at Ecosure. About 70% of the local population tried to operate the fountain in more than 500 observed attempts over 44 days, finding success 46% of the time. And, apparently, this is all just for fun. There were plenty of other food and water sources around for the parrots, including a creek just 500 meters away, per the Guardian. "If there is no super urgent need and you're not dying of thirst, then why not do something you enjoy?" study co-author Barbara C. Klump, a behavioral ecologist at the Max Planck Institute, tells the Times.

Martin says the birds, who presumably learned the behavior by watching people and then experimenting on their own, appear to be "having a bit of a relax and a bit of a laugh," per the Guardian. He previously authored a paper on cockatoos in Sydney's southern suburbs learning to open garbage bins with their beaks and feet, which showed evidence of social learning. "Birds in one area opened a bin in a certain way, and birds in another geographic area opened a bin in a different way," says Martin. Cockatoos in Brisbane are also known to drink from water fountains, though they couldn't have learned the behavior from Sydney's cockatoos as the groups don't mix, per the Times. (More animal behavior stories.)