Do cockatoos really dance to the music? Or are they just faking it? I sent last week's post to a few ornithologists and asked what they thought.
First to respond was University of Arizona evolutionary biologist John Pepper , who wrote his PhD thesis on the behavioral ecology of glossy black cockatoos: The question we can't answer by watching these videos is whether the cockatoos are responding to the music, or responding to their owner. They are intensely social and interactive birds. They are especially interactive with a person they know well.
But even as a stranger you can easily elicit this kind of behavior. If you walk into a pet store and interact with any parrot, make eye contact, and talk to it, and then start bobbing your head, chances are good that it will start bobbing its head along with you. Try it!
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