Flying high, not getting high: the poppy-eating cockatoos of Tasmania are no opiate addicts

Scientists say it's the poppies' fat and protein, not their narcotic alkaloids, that keep the birds coming back for more

Tasmanian farmers have reported their poppy crops are being ravaged by cockatoos, but experts say it is likely that it is a taste for the fatty seeds, and not an addiction to opiates, that is attracting the birds.

Tasmanian farmer Bernard Brain told the ABC on Tuesday that flocks of about 300 white cockatoos had decimated his harvest by ripping capsules from his poppy flowers and eating them, leading him to believe that the native birds were addicted to the alkaloid found in the seed.