Overview

• Cockatoos grip the fountain stem with one foot, twist the spring-loaded handle with the other and lean their bodies to keep the water flowing.
• Over 44 days, roughly 70 percent of the local flock made 525 drinking attempts with a 41 percent overall success rate and marked individuals succeeding about 52 percent of the time.
• Researchers classify the fountain-drinking behavior as a novel urban-adapted tradition that has disseminated through social learning across western Sydney cockatoos.
• This water-access innovation follows a previously documented bin-opening skill and underscores the species’ capacity for urban problem solving.
• Ongoing studies aim to uncover why the birds prefer fountains by examining theories of cleaner water, predator safety and social cohesion.