Be part of the Clever Cockie project

Published on 08 May 2024

Local residents are being invited to share their sightings of clever cockatoos as part of a university-funded science project.

Environmental scientists at the Australia National University have been gathering data over the last six years to study the foraging habits of cockatoos.

The ‘Clever Cockie” project focusses on the ability of cockatoos to prise open waste bins in their efforts to find food.

The team is relying on a network of citizen scientists across Australia to aid their research, which aims to understand where bin-opening started, whether it is spreading and whether securing bins can help manage the behaviour.

The ANU scientists are also trying to find out whether the bin-opening behaviour is restricted to certain areas or occurs everywhere.

Ku-ring-gai residents are being invited to take part in this year’s survey which is open until early June.

Survey responses will be used to measure what behavioural changes are occurring over time.

Since 2018 when the survey started, the bin-opening phenomenon has spread from a handful of suburbs to over 44 areas in Sydney and Wollongong.

To take part in the survey and find out more about the project visit www.clevercockies.com

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Media enquiries: media@krg.nsw.gov.au Ku-ring-gai Council 9424 0000