When lively music plays, it’s hard to resist the urge to dance. It turns out that humans aren’t the only ones who feel that way. Captive parrots also love to move their bodies to the rhythm of music.
Researchers at Charles Sturt University in Australia found that cockatoos (family Cacatuidae) use about 30 different dance moves — from head bobbing to side steps and body spins — and 17 of those moves had never been documented.
Illustration of the 10 most common recorded dance moves of parrots
What Did the Scientists Report?
The team reached these conclusions after analyzing 45 social media videos of cockatoos dancing to music and observing six cockatoos at the Wagga Wagga Zoo in Australia.
Researchers documented the birds’ dance moves in response to music, to audio podcasts, and even in silence, as reported by Science Alert.
One cockatoo showed a particularly creative improvisation, performing 17 “original” moves not seen in any other bird. The other parrots also showed their own styles, combining different movements to varying degrees.
Why cockatoos dance remains unclear — and it’s not so different from humans. Researchers believe that the dancing abilities of captive parrots may be remnants of courtship rituals reinterpreted for entertainment.
“The similarities between cockatoo dances and human dancing suggest that these birds possess well-developed cognitive and emotional abilities. Music likely enhances their well-being,” said ethologist Rafael Freire, a co-author of the study.
“We observed that the dancing behavior of cockatoos consists of numerous movements. Further research should determine whether music can trigger dancing in captive birds and enrich their environment,” said colleague Natasha Lubke.
The findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE.
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