Story highlights Cockatoos turn their neck and use their beaks to open the lid. After finding a break, they quickly shuffle far enough towards the bin’s edge to let the lid fall backward completely and then feast on the contents of the bin Scientists in Australia have observed that cockatoos in Sydney have learned how to open bins by watching others. An ornithologist Richard Major observed Australia’s sulphur-crested cockatoos opening the lids of bins to scavenge for food a few years ago. After watching a handful of them, Major and his team decided to study other cockatoos and see if they had also learned this trick.