https://www.facebook.com/TMRQld/videos/1790391314337077/
The feeling I get regarding Australia is that it’s similar to us in a lot of ways, different in others, and one of the best differences is Australia has way more interesting animals. It’s not even a contest. What would this video be about in the states… a rascally pigeon? I don’t think so, friend! In any case: a traffic camera on Murgatroyd Road in North Queensland caught the beautiful cockatoo peeking into the camera, obscuring any vision of traffic, with an expression that showed off both joy and indifference. The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Road published the video on its Facebook page, and people were in love. Why wouldn’t they be? It’s an animal being goofy! It’s one of the greatest concepts of all time in video form!
Now, just a video of a cockatoo being goofy usually, would be enough, but in this case, ABC.net.au got us a scientific point of view. Brisbane Bird veterinarian, Dr. Adrian Gallagher explained what was going on here exactly, saying that the bird was just lovingly gazing at its own reflection. Gallagher said:
“In a situation like this, it could be curious or it may recognize itself in the lens of the camera. If it’s seeing its reflection it may be communicating in some way. They’re very social creatures, and they recognize individuals. A lot of them have friendship groups like we do. In a flock they’ll have a friendship structure, so this guy might be curious, wondering if [his reflection] is part of the flock, how it recognizes this being, asking ‘what are you doing in my environment, what are you doing in my territory’.”
Apparently, this is not this bird’s first visit to these cameras. He’s a regular visitor to this one, to the point where someone has to go out and actually shoo him away so he doesn’t chew on anything. Either way, he’s cute.
What do you think of this video? Let us know in the comments, or on Twitter at @WhatsTrending.
