It’s time we appreciate the humble Bin Chicken, more formally known as the Australian White Ibis. Now there’s a myth that bin chooks came over from Egypt but they’re actually native to Australia. 

I know what you’re thinking. “Alise, gross, they eat out of bins”, but I mean come on, don’t we all? 

Bin chooks cop a pretty bad rap, but that’s only because we’ve recently turned them into the villain through urbanisation. Historically, they were considered “among the most graceful and decorative of Australian birds”.

Their natural live in marshy wetlands, but in the 1970s they started to migrate towards more populated areas due to drought. This was spurred on by the fact that some major city zoos brought over flocks of ibis, letting them roam free, and they quickly adapted to city life, and developed a taste for our rubbish. 

Ibises have also figured out how to eat cane toads; a super invasive species, one of our most iconic ecological whoopsie daisies. The technique is to flick the toad and make it secrete their toxins, then wash it off before eating them. Apparently the toxins might not even hurt the bird, but it tastes gross. 

So, we call them names and treat them like a nuisance, but all they’re doing is cleaning up the messes we’ve made. Bless.

Justice for the bin chicken.