Do Cockatoos Like Music?

Published on Jan 27, 2022 by Bilal Qamar

Last Updated on March 5, 2022

Cockatoos are very intelligent and responsive parrots, and they express their emotions. Their body language can describe their feelings when they listen, feel, eat and sing something. Cockatoos like to dance, play tricks and talk with their owners. Cockatoos, like music or not, will be discussed in this article. 

Cockatoos like music, and their behavior clearly shows it. When they like some beat or song, they bob their head, move their wings, and perform many tricks. It has been observed that most of these parrots like music, and they move their body when they enjoy it. 

They did not get bored no matter how many times music was played; they enjoyed it every time. Among all cockatoos, there are Sulphur crested cockatoos which get famous due to their viral video on the internet. It was dancing while listening to their favorite music. 

This cockatoo was named Snowball cockatoo due to its dance to music. Among many pets, most parrots, including cockatoos, are famous for their social and expressive nature. They are often seen dancing to their favorite song, and they express their likeness to music by their body language. Let’s discuss these points in detail. 

Cockatoos Show Response on Music:

Cockatoos are very jolly and social parrots. They simply want to interact, and they love to listen to their caretakers. When music gets played, they become very happy because they think music is interacting with them. That is why they quickly show some response when music is played. 

These parrots really enjoy the music, its beat, and they dance on it. It has been observed that in captivity when some music is played and cockatoos enjoy it, they start to dance on it. Similarly, when the same music is played at any place, they would love to dance by opening their wings and bobbing their head. 

They also move their feet and stand on one foot like humans do. Cockatoos respond very quickly to music; when they hear some fast and extraordinary shrill music, they get depressed. Most of the time, cockatoos enjoy the music and show their response by moving their head, wings, and feet. 

Also Read About: Why Do Cockatoos Dance? Does it Mean They are Excited?

Cockatoos Show Response on Music

According to a new study, it has been stated that quick actions of the moving body and its diversity of movements are seen in only humans, but cockatoos can also do this. It has been observed that these parrots can do body movement, and then they move their other body parts, which is very shocking. An example of this trait is SnowBall Cockatoos. Let’s discuss this. 

SnowBall Cockatoos:

Eleanora Cockatoos, which is the subspecies of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, is named snowball cockatoos. Once Eleonora, in its captivity, showed some movement when it heard the music from a backstreet boy. Their caretakers encouraged its behavior, and gradually, it was taken into notice by researchers. 

Then they observe that the trait of humans can also exist in these cockatoos. They listen to music, and if they like it, they move their body. More specifically, their body moves spontaneously to the beat of the song. Researchers observed that, like humans, these cockatoos firstly listen to the beat and then bob their heads in order to show their excitement. 

Then they open their wings and spread them by moving back and forth. They also move their legs and feet and seem to be dancing to music. This beat induction was really surprising for researchers because these parrots were coping with the trait of humans. Moreover, they stand on one foot like humans do and they dance to music which shows that cockatoos like music. 

According to one research published in 2019, it has been observed that these Eleanora cockatoos showed 14 different dance moves to their favorite music. More specifically all the dance moves are copied from their surroundings. They observe the humans dancing around them and memorize their actions and copy them.

Cockatoos Dance Moves on Music:

Cockatoos can make various dance moves while listening to music which shows their interest and likeness towards music. These parrots show different moves in the music.

Cockatoos Dance Moves on Music

Cockatoos Bob Their Head:

When cockatoos enjoy the music, they start to dance by bobbing their head. When they start to nod their heads just after listening to some music, it indicates that they are enjoying the beat of the song.  These parrots have the ability to respond to the beat and music because they are intelligent parrots and they understand sounds. 

This bobbing of the head can be turned fast and slow after the speed of the songs, and it is a hilarious trait that is observed in it. Their shaking of heads clearly shows that they like music and respond to the beats induction.

Cockatoos Spread their Wings:

Cockatoos like music because they do various body movements, which shows their interest in music. They understand the beat and its speed; moreover, they are familiar with the voices because of their pitch. When they listen to music, these cockatoos do many actions, but among all, one is to spread their wings. 

After listening to their favorite beat, they get excited and try to show their happiness by spreading wings and moving up and down. They also open the right-wing and close the left and vice versa. Their behavior in listening to music was exceptional, and they showed many movements on music.

They appear to be very beautiful when they open and close their wings. Cockatoos move and spread their wings because of many factors but when they hear their favorite beta, they automatically spread their wings which seems so charming. Their expression such as head and feet move also shows their excitement and interest towards music.

Cockatoos Move their Legs and Feet:

As we are discussing, cockatoos show their feelings by their body movements. So, when they listen to their favorite music, they become excited and try to copy the dance beats of their owners. They move their legs and feet while dancing, which appear to be very attractive.

Cockatoos Move their Legs and Feet

These parrots are very intelligent and stand on one foot in order to show their interest and happiness. This behavior was very noticeable because they do stand on one foot like humans. So, their actions show that they like music. 

Cockatoos like music and are familiar to beat induction:

According to the research of Patel, it is observed that cockatoos change their dance style according to their beat. This was really shocking that these parrots are able to recognize the speed of the music. Elenora cockatoos and many parrots are familiar with their beat inductions and like to dance to music.

It has been seen in humans that they move their legs and head faster on fast beats and slow down on slow, similarly, cockatoos were also doing the same. Snowball and the other parrots were extraordinary in response to beat induction.

Different songs at different speeds were played, were Similarly and when Patel changed the pace of the music, Snowball kept the beat, no matter how slow or fast Patel made the song. This shows that cockatoos have the ability to perceive a  music beat and move towards it in the same way that humans do. 

Cockatoos like music and are familiar to beat induction

Because cockatoos mimic birds, their brains are attached to sensory and motor nerves to connect sounds to motor skills. When these cockatoos dance with the music, they appear to be very attractive. 

Conclusion:

Cockatoos like music because it is observed that they become excited when some beat is played. Cockatoos are expressive parrots, and they dance to their favorite music by bobbing their head and moving their whole body. You can observe the likes and dislikes of your cockatoos by judging their behaviors. They get depressed on those beats, which seems horrifying to them, and they really enjoy classical songs. You can also observe their beat induction by playing fast and slow music beats. 

Bilal is an aviculturist who loves to write in free time. His personal experience with bird care and breeding enables him to share valuable tips. So far, he has contributed more than 100 blogs to this site. His goal is to promote bird-keeping and save endangered species.

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