Parrots - which include cockatoos - are known for being among the most clever birds. What the new research adds to that understanding is that critters that easily transmit knowledge and new skills socially also have an advantage. Over the past decade, research has shown that “urban adaptability is correlated with traits like innovativeness, behavioral flexibility and exploration,” said Max Planck Institute’s Aplin. “In an unpredictable, rapidly changing environment with unpredictable food sources, opportunistic animals thrive,” said Isabelle Laumer, a behavioral researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved in the research. While many animals have declined with the expansion of Australian cities, these bold and flamboyant birds generally have thrived. ![]() “This suggests that if you’re more socially connected, you have more opportunities to observe and acquire new behavior - and also to spread it,” she said.Ĭockatoos are extremely gregarious birds that forage in small groups, roost in large ones, and are rarely seen alone in Sydney. The birds that mastered the trick also tended to be dominant in social hierarchies. Not all cockatoos succeeded in opening them, but she took around 160 videos of victorious efforts.Īnalyzing the footage, Klump realized the vast majority of birds opening bins were males, which tend to be larger than females. As garbage trucks rolled down their routes and people shoved bins to the curb, Max Planck Institute behavioral ecologist Barbara Klump drove around and stopped to record cockatoos landing on bins. Parrots are known to be vocal learners, and can often mimic sounds or words, but Snowball has intrigued scientists thanks to his ability to perform dance moves to those sounds, something they say shows a level of creativity.During summer of 2019, trash-collection day in suburban Sydney was the team’s research day. "What's most interesting to us is the sheer diversity of his movements to music," said Aniruddh Patel, a psychologist at Tufts University and Harvard University and senior author of a report published in Current Biology. Scientists believe Snowball is the first animal to demonstrate the ability to dance to a beat. In a video first filmed in 2008, but recently studied by scientists, Snowball can be seen to demonstrate the 14 distinct moves as Another One Bites the Dust and Girls Just Want To Have Fun play in the background. ![]() Scientists believe Snowball to be the first documented animal to demonstrate an ability to dance in time to a beat. And unlike other animals that have been known to dance in the past, Snowball does not do it for a reward or as part of a mating ritual, he does it, it seems, for the sheer love of music. Snowball has 14 signature moves that he enjoys pulling out to ‘80s pop classics. ![]() ![]() The sulphur-crested cockatoo has become an internet sensation thanks to his impressive dance moves, which have delighted fans and baffled scientists in equal measure. And for those of us who don’t, a cockatoo called Snowball is about to make you feel even more inferior on the dancefloor.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |