Page 30 - BBC Knowledge - October 2017 IN

Science
Discoveries

Dave the cockatoo had
been practising for his
Counting Crows audition

Z OO L OG Y
COCKATOOS GOT RHYTHM

Birds might generally be better known for as part of a wider study into the bird’s conservation needs.
their singing, but new research carried out by Heinsohn and his team at the ANU Fenner School of
Prof Rob Heinsohn from the Australian National Environment and Society analysed seven years’ worth of
University (ANU) has proved they can also be footage of 18 male cockatoos, and found that all 18
a dab hand on the drums. of the birds drummed regularly. PHOTOS: C ZDENEK, CHRISTINE DANILOFF/MIT ILLUSTRATION: DANIEL BRIGHT
The palm cockatoo – also known as the goliath “The large smoky-grey parrots fashion thick sticks from
or great black cockatoo – is native to New branches, grip them with their feet and bang them on trunks and
Guinea and to Australia’s Cape York Peninsula, tree hollows, all the while displaying to females,” said Heinsohn.
an area of untamed wilderness in the far north “The icing on the cake is that the taps are almost perfectly spaced
of Queensland. over very long sequences, just like a human drummer would do.”
It was here that Heinsohn’s team were, for What’s more, each cockatoo was found to have its own
the first time, able to capture enough film of signature style, with some drumming faster or slower, and others
the reclusive species’ drumming behaviour, introducing distinctive flourishes to the otherwise regular beat.
which had previously been reported anecdotally, It’s thought that this enables other cockatoos to determine
30 for serious study. The footage was obtained who is drumming where.
OCTOBER 2017