I'm sure most of you have already seen Snowball the Dancing Cockatoo
Now, most of you have probably seen this already -- the AP picked it up, so it's been on the broadcast news occasionally. But, for those of you who haven't see it yet -- or who want to see it again: Snowball.
Here's his YouTuibe video -- warning: Backstreet Boys music. But it's worth it.
Snowball is not, of course, the only cockatoo that dances -- put music on with a good beat, and start bobbing your head, and many cockatoos will dance along with you. But Snowball just has better moves than most birds. Okay, Snowball has better moves than 99% of the people at a nightclub.
There is apparently some argument among ornithologists about whether this is REALLY dancing or not. Cockatoos, say some ornithologists, are simply very social animals, so they're probably just using their usual display behaviors, and maybe mimicking their human if the human is bopping to the music. Or they're just using their usual display behaviors and doing them to the beat.
But, see, as far as I can tell, that's a pretty good description of "dancing". That bi
Here's his YouTuibe video -- warning: Backstreet Boys music. But it's worth it.
Click to viewSnowball is not, of course, the only cockatoo that dances -- put music on with a good beat, and start bobbing your head, and many cockatoos will dance along with you. But Snowball just has better moves than most birds. Okay, Snowball has better moves than 99% of the people at a nightclub.
There is apparently some argument among ornithologists about whether this is REALLY dancing or not. Cockatoos, say some ornithologists, are simply very social animals, so they're probably just using their usual display behaviors, and maybe mimicking their human if the human is bopping to the music. Or they're just using their usual display behaviors and doing them to the beat.
But, see, as far as I can tell, that's a pretty good description of "dancing". That bi