2: Cockatoos Wreak Havoc: Avian Vandals Attack Roofing Bolts Jeremy Zakis The discussion focuses on the intense destructive power of cockatoos in New South Wales, described as "gang members" who work in packs. Jeremy Zakis reports that eight to ten cockatoos
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 19 October 2025
⏱️ 6 minutes
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Summary
The discussion focuses on the intense destructive power of cockatoos in New South Wales, described as "gang members" who work in packs. Jeremy Zakis reports that eight to ten cockatoos had been actively targeting his neighbor's steel roof, successfully wrenching out two-inch-long galvanized steel roofing bolts. Jeremy notes the creatures are incredibly strong, with beaks capable of damaging the steel. In a particularly surprising act of "villainy," one cockatoo flew a removed bolt across the property line and dropped it onto Jeremy's driveway. The hosts speculate that this act could be a deliberate warning that Jeremy's house is next. These birds are clearly the disruptive outliers in the local happy bird world.
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| 0:00.0 | Building a coffee business? |
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| 0:25.5 | and Jeremy Zackis is in very warm, New South Wales. |
| 0:29.2 | hottest October ever. The bomb, the Bureau of Meteorology, is called off predictions. |
| 0:35.7 | However, we have a prediction, whatever you think of cockatoos, |
| 0:39.2 | and they are pretty to look at in paintings, all white with what looks to be a spiky haircut as if they |
| 0:45.6 | were gang members. They are gang members. They work in packs, and they attack things like |
| 0:51.5 | roofs. Jeremy Zak is witness to a posse of cockatoos. |
| 0:59.4 | We have no motive here. |
| 1:01.1 | There must be a motive, but we have none. |
| 1:03.7 | I remind you that Dallas hosts that he is to a whole family of birds |
| 1:08.4 | who feed in the morning, thanks to generosity of Jeremy and his family. |
| 1:13.5 | They watch this happening and don't want anything to do with the cockatoos. |
| 1:17.6 | When the cockatoos show up, everybody leaves. |
| 1:20.6 | They are clearly the outliers in a happy bird world in Australia. |
| 1:26.9 | But Jeremy is going to introduce you to the power of the cockatoos to destroy. |
| 1:31.8 | Jeremy, what happened? |
| 1:33.8 | Well, John, this week, as we discussed last week, the cockatoos are taking a shining to |
| 1:38.8 | my neighbor's roof. |
| 1:40.3 | And what started off with one cockatoo effectively just picking at the, this is a steel |
| 1:45.3 | roof, I tell you as well. This is a proper roof on a house. What started off with one cockatoo, |
| 1:49.7 | pecking at the roof and basically having a good old time, I think, trying to destroy it, then ended up |
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