This cockatoo was having none of this anti-bird human invention.
In the Australian city of Katoomba, a white cockatoo was filmed destroying anti-nesting spikes from a ledge of a shopping center. From the looks of it, the bird was really determined to clear the space for him and for the other birds to freely perch on.
A man named Isaac Sherring-Tito was able to personally witness the bird in action. And when he realized that he wasn’t backing down, he decided to record the whole thing using his phone.
In the video, the determined cockatoo can be seen tugging at and ripping out sections of the metal spikes using his beak and holding them down with his feet, then dropping them on the pavement below.
After a few moments, the camera pans down to reveal the dozens of sections that he has already taken out. Indeed, the contraption was no match to this clever bird!
Isaac shared the clip on Facebook last week and as of writing, it has already garnered 3.1 million views and almost 50,000 shares! Thousands of people were impressed by the cockatoo’s act of “rebellion” and complimented him for his efforts.
As it turns out, this particular bird was known in the locality – but not for positive reasons. A Twitter user who lives in Wentworth Falls, New South Wales, said that the cockatoo once tried to steal his shopping and even “cons tourists out of their snacks”.
Cockatoos are known for their exceptional intelligence and sociability. In fact, a University of Vienna study suggested that these birds have a cognitive ability equivalent to that of 4-year old children.
Although the people who installed the spikes might feel a bit irritated that their work has gone to waste, I think that the cockatoo clearly understands that these anti-bird traps aren’t so animal-friendly, and that he and his winged friends have every right to walk, land on, and perch on that ledge.
Talk about fighting for their rights! To see this amazing bird in action, see below.