Cheeky cockatoo seen throwing pot plants off an Australian balcony

Cockatoos are known to be fairly cheeky when they're roaming the streets of Australia.

But one particularly egregious bird has been spotted being an all-round general menace to society.

Footage has emerged on social media showing the sulphur-crested cockatoo perched on someone's balcony in Melbourne.

While that might initially be no cause for alarm, the animal was casually dropping pot plants onto the ground from several storeys up.

The video shows one pot smash onto the ground on Flinders Lane, with passersby worrying this was from some careless homeowner.

Jason filmed the clip, which has been posted by Brown Cardigan, told the ABC the cockatoos have been wreaking havoc on their balconies for a few years.

"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."

Tell that to the unwitting person who doesn't see the debris and gets clocked in the head with a pot plant during their morning commute to work.

Western Sydney University animal ecology lab researcher John Martin was baffled by the footage.

He explained to the ABC that cockatoo behaviour has been well documented in the past, but still, this is a surprise.

"Wilfully throwing pot plants off a multi-storey balcony is a new observation – it is bizarre and fascinating," he said.

"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."

You should be aware that cockatoos are fairly intelligent beings.

One bird in particular managed to teach itself how to remove a brick that was on top of a bin.

The brick was put there by homeowners who were clearly trying to prevent birds from getting in and pulling their rubbish onto the ground.

While a brick can be heavy for a small bird, it was no match for one cockatoo and footage of the moment went viral on Reddit.

Researchers have also observed a flock of cockatoos learning how to open the bin lid when it's unobscured.

The behaviour ended up spreading from three Sydney suburbs in 2018 to 44 jurisdictions in just 18 months.