Feeding the Flock: Wild Cockatoos and Their Facebook Friends

• In Event: Global Animals: Science and Technology

Abstract

Wildlife is persisting in urban areas of Australia even though white settler colonialism has resulted in the large-scale destruction of forested landscapes. While many bird species are in decline, one particularly charismatic species—the sulfur-crested cockatoo—has found emergent opportunities for flourishing within the built environment. Cockatoos are actively generating relationally constituted spaces, making urban ecosystems into “more-than-human” places with lively multispecies communities and abundance. Yellow tags attached to the wings of cockatoos, along with a smart-phone app and a Facebook page, have enabled citizens and scientists to collect data about bird movements. These tracking technologies were quickly coopted by an emergent public that began speculating about the personalities, relationships, intentions, and desires of individual birds. Interspecies friendships formed between humans and birds—involving shared understandings, emotional resonances, ongoing social exchanges, and utilitarian arrangements. People who fed cockatoos expressed the dominant view in Australia that providing food might be bad for birds, or would promote dependence on people. We found no evidence in the literature that commonly offered foods lead to obesity or ill health. Rather than corrupting wild birds, and making them tame, we found multispecies flocks were fleeting associations where wild and unruly behaviors redoubled as people offered up food. We found that wildness can emerge in intimate encounters with other species where risks intensify in close bodily encounters. Asymmetrical vulnerabilities and risks frame such corporeal interactions. Some cockatoos have been killed, after being identified as nuisance animals. Against the backdrop of these risks, we studied flocks of birds as models of and models for fleeting forms of association and collaboration. We found affects jumping from body-to-body, across species lines. Feelings of interspecies attraction, quickly alternated with agitated and uncomfortable experiences. Amidst these animated encounters, people are exploring the ethics of inclusivity and conviviality.

Authors

• Eben Kirksey, Deakin University

• Thom van Dooren, University of Sydney

• Paul Munro, University of New South Wales