Ehhh it's definitely nuanced but we certainly haven't been dramatically overlooking anything fundamental.

The prevailing wisdom has been that a fully developed cockatoo has roughly the intelligence of a 3 year old.

A 3 year old figuring out how to use a drinking fountain wouldn't be world-breaking science, and I don't think this is either.

We have proven that they don't understand language and can simply mimic sounds. I don't think it's as deep as you are hoping.