QUEENSLAND - A camera set up to monitor the traffic on a road in Australia's north-eastern state of Queensland has instead filmed an errant cockatoo.

The camera, set up on Murgatroyd Road just south of Cairns in north Queensland, captured the white bird playfully poking around the lens before giving it a long stare with its beady, black eye, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said on Friday (June 1) .

A 30-second clip of the encounter was uploaded to the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Road's Facebook page on Friday afternoon where it was shared by more than 3,100 people and viewed more than 60,000 times in less than hour.

Brisbane Bird Vet owner Dr Adrian Gallagher said the cockatoo could have been sussing out its own reflection, reported ABC.

"In a situation like this, it could be curious or it may recognise itself in the lens of the camera," Dr Gallagher said.

"If it's seeing its reflection it may be communicating in some way.

"They're very social creatures, and they recognise individuals. A lot of them have friendship groups like we do.

"In a flock they'll have a friendship structure, so this guy might be curious, wondering if [his reflection] is part of the flock, how it recognises this being, asking 'what are you doing in my environment, what are you doing in my territory'."