‘Bin’ there, done that: Clever cockatoos learn to lift trash can lids

A sulphur-crested cockatoo opening the lid of a household waste bin while another watches, in Sydney, Australia. Photos: Barbara Klump/Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior/AFP

A few years ago, a Sydney scientist noticed a sulfur-crested cockatoo opening his trash bin. Not every resident would be thrilled, but ornithologist Richard Major was impressed by the ingenuity.

It’s quite a feat for a bird to grasp a bin lid with its beak, pry it open, then shuffle far enough along the bin’s edge that the lid falls backward – revealing edible trash treasures inside.