4/17/2024 0 Comments Head ganging cockatoo 14 danceSulphur-crested cockatoos also maintain close familial ties. Some would chase other birds off a bin.” The bullies or ‘jerk birds’ of the group, according to John, are usually the ones that have something to prove. “That’s partially because they have more opportunity and they’re a bit more aggressive. “There’s a dominance hierarchy in a flock and birds that were higher in that hierarchy were more likely to be bin openers,” says Richard. “When they move through the flock, the others get out of the way.”ĭominant males are also more likely to be doing most of the bin opening. “They’re the ones that have a tree hollow and are top dogs,” John says. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some of these “marriages” can last up to 60 years. Sulphur-crested cockatoos are speculated to maintain mating partnership, at least while their mate is alive. The flocks we’ve assessed have a dominant male and female, who are also a mating pair. He believes this has something to do with food availability and the feeling of comfort and safety offered by being in a flock. “This is a big bird that could easily cover a huge distance in 15–20 minutes, but they choose not to,” John says. Most of the cockies reside in flocks of 50–100 birds, and surprisingly, don’t travel very far from this flock. “It’s trivial things like whether it walks left when it’s sliding the bin open, and whether it holds the bin lid half open with its foot or beak,” explains Richard, “and because these techniques varied geographically but were similar among close individuals, it’s an indication that opening bins is socially learned.” Birds within one group would open the bins in a similar fashion, while another group from a separate area would use an entirely different method. “There were slight variations in the way different groups were opening bins. “We discovered different subcultures,” says Australian Museum ecologist Dr Richard Major, who is a co-author of the groundbreaking study published in July 2021. This allowed the scientists to assess which birds were opening the bins and how they were doing it. The survey was then repeated in 2019, and 500 cockatoos across the suburbs of Sutherland, Helensburgh and Stanwell Park were marked with small dots of paint. In early 2018, a team of scientists asked Sydney residents to submit videos and photos of cockatoos in their area opening household bins to scavenge food. They’ve learnt that humans aren’t a predator and aren’t to be feared.” “How many other birds do this? They are a wild animal and they are showing a behaviour that’s extremely abnormal in the animal world. “In some areas cockies will land on your hand or shoulders,” John says. Sulphur-crested cockatoos, like most parrot species, have demonstrated high levels of intelligence, which is most obvious in the ways they’ve adapted to live with humans. Brutus, on the other hand, he’s a pain in the neck and a bully’. He’s lovely and gentle and interacts with me. “We get reports from people who will say, ‘Oh, I love PartyBoy. John ran The Wingtags Project, now the Big City Birds app, which asks people to submit their sightings of bird behaviours, including individually wing-tagged birds, which are all named. Ecologist Dr John Martin who’s spent years observing sulphur-crested cockatoos in Sydney – analysing everything from their social hierarchy, advanced cognitive abilities and how they operate in human modified environments – is a witness to this.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |