A cockatoo perched on a metal railing, surrounded by three smaller cockatoos on a tiled balcony floor. An urban setting with a car dealership and greenery in the background. 7:25

Every morning, the wild cockatoos come to call

On one balcony in Sydney, Australia, the wake-up call has white feathers and a yellow crest. Wild sulphur-crested cockatoos fly in from all around, and they do it every morning. more

They arrive from all over the neighborhood. One perches on the metal railing while others stand around on the tiled floor below it. Past the rail is a plain city view of trees and a car dealership, which makes a crowd of white parrots look all the more out of place.

This is no one-time visit. It is as if word spread from one cockatoo to the next, and now the balcony is their regular meeting place. One viewer has a theory. Someone here is feeding one bird, and that bird told his friends.

A cockatoo perched on a metal railing, surrounded by three smaller cockatoos on a tiled balcony floor. An urban setting with a car dealership and greenery in the background. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
On one balcony in Sydney, Australia, the wake-up call has white feathers and a yellow crest.

They're in no hurry. Some puff out their feathers, which people love to see. One lets out a tiny squeak. Another lands and gives the person filming a cheeky look.

Not one of them says good morning. That was the top complaint from viewers, until someone pointed out that the birds were probably waiting for the human to say it first. Another viewer just started counting. Cockatoo, cockathree, cockafour.

A white cockatoo with a yellow crest, a black beak and a dark eye looks forward and slightly down. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Up close, a sulphur-crested cockatoo looks down from its spot on the balcony.

Someone said it was like having National Geographic on your balcony. That's about right. These birds are wild and free to fly anywhere, and they keep choosing this balcony to start the day.