A sulphur-crested cockatoo has gone viral for sending pot plants hurtling off an apartment balcony in Melbourne’s CBD.
In the video posted to TikTok and Instagram by the meme page Brown Cardigan, several pot plants can be seen falling to the ground from a balcony in Flinders Lane. The camera then pans up to show the culprit — a cheeky cocky! Bless.
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Luckily, no pedestrians were hit in the head by a rogue pot plant.
Speaking to ABC, local café manager Lucie Amulet said this kind of behaviour happens “every year”.
“They mostly drop plants but also socks as well.”
We don’t know why this cocky was so set on ruining this poor person’s balcony oasis, but we sure are impressed with the clever little thing. The Guardian even reckons that cockatoos are smarter than human toddlers.
Yeah yeah — but are they smarter than a fifth grader?
Speaking to ABC, Western Sydney University animal ecology lab researcher Josh Martin — who actually specialises in urban bird behaviour — reckons he and his team have never seen anything like this before.
“Wilfully throwing pot plants off a multi-storey balcony is a new observation — it is bizarre and fascinating.
“This bird might have thought this [behaviour] was fun – but we don’t know exactly what they are thinking.”
OK cool so the birds are doing weird stuff and we can’t figure out why… I know this is funny and cute and everything but is anyone else a little bit scared right now? ‘Cause I’m a bit scared.
Seems like City of Melbourne might be a bit concerned, as they’ve recommended people in the CBD clear their balconies of pot plants and any other sources of food to avoid attracting any cheeky wild birds.
In the meantime, might be a good idea to look up every once in a while when walking down the street. Y’know, just in case there’s any flying pot plants.
