April 30, 2009 -- Birds can boogie to the beat, according to two new studies that found birds, especially parrots, have rhythm and an apparent appreciation for certain songs that compel them to bob their heads, tap their feet and sway their bodies in time to music. View a video of foot-tapping, head-bobbing dancing birds. Humans are now no longer considered the world's only dancers. Scientists suspect dogs, cats and non-human primates can't truly dance, but dolphins, elephants, walruses and seals might be able to groove. Some birds even appear to have more dancing talent than others. The disco king of both studies, published in Current Biology is Snowball, a sulfur-crested cockatoo. "You can see him dancing to 'Another One Bites the Dust' and other songs on YouTube," Aniruddh Patel, lead author of one of the papers, told Discovery News. Related Content:
"He seems to prefer rock music with a steady beat," added Patel, a researcher at The Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, Calif. Patel used one of Snowball's favorite songs, "Everybody" by the Backstreet Boys, for his team's study. While Snowball danced away to different beats manipulated by the scientists, they coded his movements from video and discovered the cockatoo synchronized his head-banging, body swaying and foot tapping to musical rhythms far more often than mere chance would predict. Occasionally the bird would get out of step, which the scientists liken to kids attempting to match their movements to beats. "It would be interesting to quantitatively compare Snowball's pattern of in-and-out of sync to children's dancing to music, to see what human age his dancing most closely resembles," said Patel, who hopes people won't run out to buy a parrot for evening entertainment. The birds, he said, "need a great deal of interaction and attention from humans to stay happy." For the second study, Adena Schachner and her team studied a dancing African grey parrot, along with Snowball. They too concluded that birds really do dance. Get More NewsSpiders, Scorpions Among World's Oldest CreaturesMany creepy crawlies have been on Earth much longer than previously believed.Blood-Sucking Vampire Bats Sing DuetsWhite-winged vampire bats "harmonize" with separated roost mates.Oldest Hebrew Writing Possibly FoundAncient inscriptions on a 3,000-year-old pottery shard could make history.Rare, Prehistoric-Age Reptile Found in N.Z.A tuatara has been spotted on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in 200 years.Iceman Has No Living RelativesOetzi, the 5,300 year-old frozen mummy, left no living genetic legacy.SLIDE SHOW: Landscapes of TerrorWhat makes a place feel scary? There are scientific explanations.It's Official: People Are Warming the PolesHumans are conclusively to blame for polar warming, say scientists.Eight-Armed Animal Preceded DinosaursWhat may be one of Earth's first animals was no bigger than a coaster and had eight arms.Phoenicians Live on in People's GenesOne in 17 Mediterranean men may be descended from ancient Phoenicians.Pesticides, Fertilizers Linked to Frog DeclineA pesticide is found to promote parasites among amphibians.Hubble Telescope Taking Photos AgainThe Hubble Space Telescope is once again snapping stunning photos of the universe.Andean Mummy Hairs Show Hallucinogen UseScientists find direct evidence of hallucinogenic drug use among ancient Andeans.Opals on Mars Reveal Planet's Long Wet PastOpals found on Mars suggest the planet has been wet for much longer. |
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