Nature News has an interesting article by Philip Ball about a dancing cockatoo named Snowball:
Aniruddh Patel of the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, California, and his colleagues say that Snowball's ability to shake his stuff is much more than a cute curiosity. It could shed light on the biological bases of rhythm perception, and might even hold implications for the use of music in treating neurodegenerative disease.
Below is a film clip of Snowball getting his groove on.
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Over the last two months, Nature has published a series of essays about the latest scientific research into music, and now that the series is complete, it has been made available as a free PDF.
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Snowball, the sulphur-crested cockatoo, is an internet superstar. He's known for his penchant for grooving to music, notably Everybody by the Backstreet Boys. As the music plays, Snowball bobs his head and taps his feet in perfect time with it. If it speeds up or slows down, his rhythm does too. He…
tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
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I've been too busy to comment much, (new grandbaby!)but your blog has really rocked this week. There have been so many intriguing posts, but this one and the itch were my favorites. Great work, Mo.
I once watched a cockatoo at the Lincoln Park Zoo here work for about 15 minutes trimming a twig about a foot long. It was very purposeful with frequent inspections of the work. But, what was the purpose? Finally the cockatoo was satisfied with the work and proceeded to use the twig to scratch its back!