Snowball the cockatoo can not only dance in time to music, he’s also invented a range of dance moves and can even combine moves like foot lifts and head bangs.
The idea that we humans have lots of unique abilities that animals lack has taken a battering in recent years – and now coming up with complex dance moves can be removed from the rapidly shrinking list. The cockatoo called Snowball has invented 14 different movements and even combines some of them.
Aniruddh Patel of Tufts University first investigated the talents of internet dance sensation Snowball back in 2009. By changing tempos, his team showed he really can dance in time to music.
After that study, Snowball’s owner Irena Schulz noticed Snowball was coming up with new dance movements. So the team filmed Snowball dancing to the 80s hits “Another one bites the dust” and “Girls just want to have fun”, and analysed his movements.
The team’s compilation video shows Snowball can do far more than just bob his head.