Dance Behaviour In Cockatoos: What It Tells Us About Thinking and Well-Being

Jenn Hoskins
8th August, 2025

Dance Behaviour In Cockatoos: What It Tells Us About Thinking and Well-Being

Analyses of White cockatoo Cacatua alba (6), Goffin’s cockatoo Cacatua goffiniana (5), Sulphur-crested cockatoo Cacatua galerita (4), Little corella Cacatua sanguinea (3), Moluccan cockatoo Cacatua moluccensis (2), Major Mitchell cockatoo Lophochroa leadbeateri (1), and Galah Eolophus roseicapilla (7) reveal that dance behavior is a widespread trait with diverse movements that do not strictly align with phylogenetic relationships.

Composite: Natural Science News / CC BY. [Sources]
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Key Findings

  • A study, partly conducted at Wagga Wagga Zoo, found cockatoos exhibit a wide range of complex dance moves, identifying 30 common and 17 rare new ones
  • Surprisingly, in a zoo setting, music alone did not specifically trigger dancing in cockatoos, as they danced equally with or without music
  • This suggests other factors influence cockatoo dancing, which may indicate positive welfare and could be explored for enrichment
Humans across all cultures spontaneously move in rhythmic synchrony with music, a behavior fundamental to dance[2]. This ability, known as entrainment, involves aligning movement to an external auditory pulse, such as a musical beat[3]. For a long time, this capacity was considered uniquely human[3][4]. However, recent scientific inquiry has challenged this view, revealing that some nonhuman animals also exhibit rhythmic movement in response to music. This raises questions about the evolutionary origins of musicality and the potential for music to influence animal welfare. Earlier research began to unravel the mystery of rhythmic movement in animals. Studies demonstrated that entrainment is not exclusive to humans, with parrots, known for their ability to mimic sounds, showing synchronized movements to music[3][4]. This led to the "vocal learning and rhythmic synchronization" hypothesis, which proposes that the ability to entrain relies on the same neural circuitry responsible for complex vocal learning[4]. Vocal learning, the capacity to learn and produce new sounds by imitating others, requires strong connections between auditory and motor brain regions[4]. Parrots, like humans, are proficient vocal learners, making them key candidates for this shared ability[2][3]. A sulphur-crested cockatoo named Snowball became a notable subject in this exploration. Experimental evidence showed Snowball could spontaneously adjust the tempo of its movements to stay synchronized with a musical beat across a wide range of speeds[4]. Initial observations of parrots moving to music often highlighted specific actions like head bobbing or foot lifting[3][4]. However, human dance involves a rich variety of movements using different body parts. This led to further investigation into whether parrots also exhibit such diverse movements. It was hypothesized that if parrots showed a wide range of movements, it would suggest the involvement of complex brain regions, including those related to motor learning, rather than just simple, innate movements like those used in courtship displays or locomotion[2]. Indeed, Snowball was later observed to respond to music with remarkably diverse spontaneous movements, employing various body parts, suggesting a significant contribution from higher brain regions[2]. Building upon these insights, new research conducted by Charles Sturt University, Bristol University, and University Centre Sparsholt further investigated dance behavior in cockatoos[1]. This study aimed to understand the extent and nature of these movements and explore whether music could actively trigger such behavior, potentially serving as a form of environmental enrichment for captive birds. The researchers approached this in two main ways. First, they systematically analyzed online videos of cockatoos moving to music. From 45 videos featuring five different cockatoo species, they identified and described 17 entirely new dance movements, expanding significantly on previous observations. They also noted 17 rare movements, often complex combinations of simpler actions, observed in only one bird and previously unreported in scientific literature. A detailed analysis of these movements revealed that similarities in dance styles among different cockatoo species were not directly related to their evolutionary closeness. This suggests that while the fundamental capacity for rhythmic movement might be shared due to vocal learning[3][4], the specific ways individual birds "dance" might be influenced by individual learning, social factors, or other complex cognitive processes rather than purely inherited patterns. This finding reinforces the idea that parrot dance is not merely a collection of simple, innate behaviors but involves a more sophisticated behavioral repertoire, consistent with the diverse movements seen in studies like[2]. Second, to test whether music specifically elicits dance, the researchers conducted a preliminary playback experiment with captive cockatoos housed in zoos. Male-female pairs from three different cockatoo species were exposed to periods of music, no audio, or an audio podcast. The surprising result was that all birds in all treatment groups showed dance behavior, and there was no statistically significant difference in the probability of dancing across the different audio conditions. This finding is crucial. While earlier studies firmly established that parrots can entrain and move rhythmically to music[2][3][4], the new study suggests that in a captive environment, music alone might not be the sole or primary trigger for spontaneous dance behavior. The fact that birds danced even during periods of silence or when listening to a podcast indicates that other factors, such as general environmental stimulation, social interaction, or perhaps an internal drive, might also contribute to eliciting these movements. In conclusion, the research confirms that dance behavior in cockatoos is remarkably diverse, encompassing a wide array of movements that go beyond simple head bobbing or foot lifting, further supporting and expanding on earlier findings about the complexity of parrot movement[2]. However, the study also highlights the need for further research to precisely determine what conditions consistently trigger dance in captive birds and whether music can reliably serve as a specific form of environmental enrichment to improve their welfare. Understanding the complex interplay of factors that encourage these sophisticated behaviors in parrots provides valuable insights into animal cognition and the broader evolutionary story of rhythmic movement.

WildlifeHealthAnimal Science

References

Main Study

1) Dance behaviour in cockatoos: Implications for cognitive processes and welfare

Published 6th August, 2025

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0328487

Related Studies

2) Spontaneity and diversity of movement to music are not uniquely human.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.05.035

3) Spontaneous motor entrainment to music in multiple vocal mimicking species.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2009.03.061

4) Experimental evidence for synchronization to a musical beat in a nonhuman animal.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2009.03.038


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