Footage of a cockatoo dropping pot plants from an apartment balcony in Melbourne has one expert labelling it "bizarre and fascinating" behaviour.
The video, believed to be filmed on Monday morning, shows a sulphur-crested cockatoo dropping pot plants on Flinders Lane.
It was posted by social media meme page Brown Cardigan and has since received more than 1.5 million plays on TikTok and Instagram combined.
While the video has shocked and amused the internet, cafe manager Lucie Amulet said the video did not surprise her.
She has worked at Croque Monsieur and Roule Galette on Flinders Lane since 2016, and said the birds normally got up to mischief at this time of year.
"It happens every year. They mostly drop plants but also socks as well," she said.
Ms Amulet said the birds were a discussion point among locals, with a resident of a nearby apartment slipping a note underneath her cafe door at the weekend to apologise for feeding them.
"She said she has been feeding the cockatoos for ages and noticed them dropping things, and she apologised because she thought it was her fault," Ms Amulet said with a laugh.
"But I think it is fun."
Jason, who lives in the Flinders Lane apartment building filmed in the video, said the plants on his balcony had been pulled off by a cockatoo twice.
"It started happening during lockdown. I think it is quirky and funny," he said.
"There is nothing you can do about it. At the end of the day it is nature."
'Bizarre and fascinating' behaviour
Western Sydney University animal ecology lab researcher John Martin, who specialises in urban bird behaviour, said he and his team had not seen this sort of behaviour from cockatoos before.
"Wilfully throwing pot plants off a multi-storey balcony is a new observation – it is bizarre and fascinating," he said.
"Obviously it is good it did not hurt someone."
While he was not sure why a cockatoo might behave like this, he suspected it was to do with food, or was simply part of their playful nature.
"We are certainly familiar with cockatoos knocking on windows to get fed, so it could be associated with someone feeding it," Dr Martin said.
"Or this bird might have thought this was fun – but we don't know exactly what they are thinking.
"We see them swinging around on powerlines and having a laugh, and the human interpretation is there is an element of play."
But he said it was unlikely more cockatoos would learn the habit because it did not seem to be associated with any health benefits.
"Potentially only one cockatoo has this behaviour," he said.
"It does not seem it will spread because there are no unique benefits to doing this to get food."
The City of Melbourne is encouraging building managers and residents to remove pot plants and any other sources of food from balconies to avoid attracting wild birds.
It is understood the council did not know this incident occurred and would speak with local residents to see if it was an ongoing issue.
Dr Martin said if urban bird-watchers in Melbourne had seen other cockatoos throwing pot plants, they could record it with the Big City Birds citizen program.
One specific trait his team is looking at is sulphur-crested cockatoos opening wheelie bins.
He is calling for people in the Lorne and Torquay area on Victoria's coast to get in touch via this form if they have seen this happen in their area.
