New research starring YouTube sensation Snowball the dancing cockatoo spotlights the surprising variety and creativity of his moves and suggests that he, and some other vocal-learning animals, may be capable of some of the kind of sophisticated brain function thought to be exclusively human.
The white bird with the yellow-crested head became an Internet sensation in 2009 when videos of him grooving in perfect time to “Another One Bites the Dust” by the British rock band Queen went viral. To date, 7.3 million people have clicked on the three-and-a-half-minute clip and millions more have watched videos of the bird bouncing and bobbing to chart-toppers by Michael Jackson and the Back Street Boys.
—The Harvard Gazette
The researchers agree — Snowball taught himself to dance and responds spontaneously to the music.
These parrots have some dancing ability too, even though they aren’t rock stars.
Anyway, the dancing part of Snowball’s brain is much superior to the dancing part of mine. And, of course, he’s a lot cuter than me!
August 5, 2019
Such fun to watch, thanks!
He’s just adorable! 😀
I suspect the birds are mimicking movements by the person behind the camera but even that is amazing.
No, they studied him to make sure that wasn’t happening.
incredible! the beautifully colored one right before the last one (and the last one too actually) was whistling every now and then! LOL! true JOY!
these were great.
in the first one… the parrot behind the cockatoo was doing just a little of his own keeping of time to the music! 😀
xo
Yes, incredible, and heart warming. 🙂
Snowball sure likes his music. I think I’ve seen him in another video and it’s very entertaining to watch
He is so cute and talented.
We need those birds to come to our house and teach Piper some of those moves – all he does is sing and sing and sing – he drives us nuts!!!
Woos – Lightning, Misty, and Timber
I think only birds of the parrot family can do it.
Tomorrow’s post is “Not Everyone Loves Birds (because of the noise). 🙂
cute and amusing…yes I’ve watched “snowball” before…
I had never heard of him before and am glad that finally changed.