Overview

• Researchers analyzed 45 social-media videos and conducted experiments with six cockatoos at Wagga Wagga Zoo to catalog 30 dance moves, including 17 newly identified behaviors.
• Dance behaviors were recorded in ten of the 21 known cockatoo species, with some individuals combining basic steps to form unique routines.
• Cockatoos performed dance moves under all audio conditions—music, podcasts or silence—indicating stimulus-independent dancing.
• Many of the recorded movements mirror courtship displays in wild parrots, suggesting evolutionary roots in mating behavior.
• Authors of the PLOS One study recommend music-based enrichment trials to explore emotional drivers and welfare benefits in captive cockatoos.