[michi]

This one is really quite cool to watch:



Researchers have taken an interest in animals' ability to dance and perceive rhythm too. Would be interesting to see what these birds do when you play them Mendiani...

Cheers,

Michi.

[e2c]

That *is* good! Thanks for posting both the vid and the link, michi... I love how the bird (at the BBC link) does moves with his feet!

I personally think animals and birds are far more intelligent than most of us humans would like to believe.

On a related note, my rabbit, Nibbles, seems not to like heavy percussion on recordings, although she's fine with my practicing. String quartets are more her style (really).

[michi]

Parrots are quite smart. They use tools, as do a number of other birds.

Many years ago, I stayed with a family with two pets: a poodle and a sulphur crested co-ck-atoo. The co-ck-atoo had clipped wings, so it couldn't fly. One day, both dog and bird were in the living room, and the dog got its dinner in a bowl on the floor. The co-ck-atoo immediately waddled over to the bowl to try and get his share. The poodle responded with a big growl and a bark, so the co-ck-atoo screeched and retreated to a safe distance.

The co-ck-atoo sat in a corner for maybe 15 seconds, intently watching the poodle munch on its dinner. Then he started to move along the skirting board along one wall until he got to the corner and followed the next wall for another two or three metres, until he was exactly behind the dog. Then, very purposefully and quietly, the co-ck-atoo moved towards the centre of the room and the dog (staying out of line of sight) and, when he got to the poodle, took a good bite in its tail.

The poodle let out a huge yelp, jumped away, and the co-ck-atoo triumphantly snatched a hunk of food and retreated with it under the safety of a sideboard, where he calmly ate it.

That was a splendid example of a bird not just solving a problem, but doing so with a considerable amount of planning.

BTW, I recently listened to a science podcast about dancing parrots. Researchers were able to show that the parrot really responds to rhythm and isn't just moving in response to noise: when they changed the tempo of the music, the parrot adjusted it's movements to match the pulse.

Cheers,

Michi.

PS: Could we please disable this really silly obscenity filter? If I don't put the hyphens in "co-ck-atoo", it gets replaced with "[spam removed]". That's just silly. I haven't come across many four-letter words in this forum so far and I'm sure that people can manage without the help of brain-dead software...

[e2c]

Researchers were able to show that the parrot really responds to rhythm and isn't just moving in response to noise: when they changed the tempo of the music, the parrot adjusted it's movements to match the pulse.

Oh, I thought that was pretty clear in the video you posted + the one on the BBC site that showed a parrot dancing to the same song at 3 different tempos. Amazing as it is, I honestly can't say I'm surprised, in some ways, at least.

Last year I got a willow cube for my rabbit to chew on; then, after she finished up with it, I gave her a willow ball. She deliberately bit away small sections of the willow twigs in one specific area of the ball in order to create a base for it so that it wouldn't roll away while she was chewing it. In other words, she figured out how to make the ball behave like the cube.

I think that shows remarkable problem-solving skills, and I'm not saying that because she's my rabbit - though I question who owns whom. I've observed her solving problems at other times, but this thing with the willow ball is ... something she did when I was not in the room. She figured it out on her own, and did it while I wasn't looking. (that last was, I think, quite purposeful.)

Here's a photo of a willow ball like the ones she gets. As you can see, there are multiple layers (although the pic doesn't really give a good idea of the depth); it takes planning to be able to clear an area to make a base. (btw, that was close to octagonal in shape.):



Our pet rabbits are the same species as European wild rabbits. The latter often dig out large, complex underground warrens and I think many of our pet rabbits have a similar facility with spatial and architectural things.

[bubudi]

PS: Could we please disable this really silly obscenity filter? If I don't put the hyphens in "co-ck-atoo", it gets replaced with "[spam removed]".

actually that added to the effect! i chuckled every time i saw your 'co-ck-atoo'

the filter is there to reduce spam accounts as it prevents people creating accounts with certain words. it does work. but i'll look into adjusting it to make it a bit less intrusive

[e2c]

I thought it was pretty funny myself.

[michi]

actually that added to the effect! i chuckled every time i saw your 'co-ck-atoo'

the filter is there to reduce spam accounts as it prevents people creating accounts with certain words. it does work. but i'll look into adjusting it to make it a bit less intrusive

Right. I think something a little bit more intelligent than a substring match on "c-o-c-k" would be appropriate...

Cheers,

Michi.

[bubudi]

it's gonna be interesting finding the different combinations to replace that word

[resiak]

haha cool! I have a citron crested cockatoo and she loves music! She's still very young so she's still experimenting but she attempts to sing and dance a bit. It's hilarious!

[djembeweaver]

Research into corvid intelligence is a hot topic in psychology at the moment (corvids are the family of birds which include crows, ravens and jays). Many recent studies seem to show that corvids posses levels of intelligence comparable to that of primates such as chimps and gorillas. Although parrots are not corvids they seem to posses similar problem-solving skills.

Here are a few links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8023295.stm

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/ ... view/1202/

http://news.nationalgeographic.co.uk/ne ... _apes.html

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/306/5 ... 3.abstract

Jon

[Waraba]

Apparently, goats aint so smart.

[gr3vans]

so would a dancing c-o-c-k be considered spam?
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RARr0GGpS9k[/video]

[michi]

so would a dancing c-o-c-k be considered spam?

Treading on thin rubber here…

Michi.