Boogie birdie: Animals shown to 'dance' to music

They wouldn't blow away the competition on "Dancing with the Stars," but it turns out that some birds got rhythm. After studying a cockatoo that grooves to the Backstreet Boys and about 1,000 YouTube videos, scientists say they've documented for the first time that some animals "dance" to a musical beat.

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Politician tries to protect NYC's pesky parrots

Polly want a New York City Council resolution? A Queens politician is drafting measures to protect Brooklyn's wild Quaker parrots, whose nests have caused power outages. Councilman Tony Avella wants to make it illegal to capture the parrots and wants the city to relocate their nests when necessary.

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Parrots wreak havoc at New Zealand bird sanctuary

A gang of unruly teenage bush parrots have wrought havoc at a bird sanctuary in New Zealand by using their powerful beaks to destroy nesting boxes.

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Rare Parrot Chicks Born in New Zealand

A species of flightless parrot edged back from extinction with the hatching of five new chicks in New Zealand in recent weeks and two more on the way, officials said Monday.

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Exotic Parrots Return to Cook Islands

Two centuries after a dazzlingly feathered parrot called the Rimitara lorikeet disappeared from the Cook Islands, a breeding colony of the birds has been re-established with the help of the islands' royalty.

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Laugh of the Day: The Catholic Parrots!

The Catholic Parrots A lady goes to her priest one day and tells him, "Father, I have a problem. I have two female parrots, but they only know how to say one thing." "What do they say?" the priest inquired.

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The world's smallest parrot has been filmed in the wild for the first time.

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Despite living in NYC, I was not at the World Science Festival last weekend, which totally bums me out, especially since Irene Pepperberg was there, speaking, and Snowball, a male Eleanora (medium sulfur-crested) cockatoo, Cacatua sulphurea eleonora, was there, dancing.

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This video is a whimsical wrap-up of TED2006 -- presented by Einstein, the African grey parrot, and her trainer, Stephanie White. Watch for the moment when Einstein has a moment with Al Gore.

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Yesterday, this letter became publicly available, so I am publishing it here for you to read, especially because the letter raises important points that must be considered if this resolution is to be taken seriously.

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April 30, 2009 -- Birds can boogie to the beat, according to two new studies that found birds, especially parrots, have rhythm and an apparent appreciation for certain songs that compel them to bob their heads, tap their feet and sway their bodies in time to music.

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This interesting video is an interview with Chris and Phineas Phogg, who entertain crowds at the Pike Place Market in my other home, Seattle. In this video, Chris talks about about their lives as Buskers.

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This streaming video discusses the potential ramifications of HR 669 if this resolution is passed into law. HR 669 is being heard in the House of Representatives on 23 April, so we must call, write, email and FAX our representatives and tell them to VOTE NO on HR 669!

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Wonderful story

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What value do Natural History Museums have for modern DNA research? This story provides some insight from my own research. It also includes images!

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This budgerigar has the cutest little speaking voice and .. hang on, what's he saying?

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A Bavarian woman who offered a match-making service for depressed parrots sold the birds abroad once the gullible owners had sent them to her, making more than €20,000.

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You might think that 180,000 squawking, screeching parrots living in 35,000 nests along 12km (seven miles) of coastline would draw quite a lot of attention.

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LOXAHATCHEE GROVES — Fireworks used to ring in the New Year instead led to a horrific scene at a local wildlife conservation center, officials said.

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A DEPRESSED parrot is being fed Prozac - because the man who raised him from a chick died. Gloomy Fred bit his neck feathers off and bobbed his head up and down all day after the death of owner George Dance nine months ago.

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"Cries for help inside a Trenton, N.J., home turned out to be for the birds. Neighbors called police Wednesday morning after hearing a woman's persistent cry of "Help me! Help me!" coming from a house.

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A gang of unruly teenage bush parrots have wrought havoc at a bird sanctuary in New Zealand by using their powerful beaks to destroy nesting boxes.

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The Plumed One? A Parrot Named Desire? Mutiny on the Sanctuary? ~or~ The Godbeak? Sorry... no amount of Friday craziness can shake the image from my mind: a gang of teenage, Brando-like parrots wreaking havoc around their neighborhood.

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Abstract: Two new fossil psittaciform birds from the Lower Eocene 'Mo Clay' (Fur Formation) of Denmark (c. 54 Ma) are described.

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With plumage of intense and other-worldly colors, deployable regal crests, and behavior that ranges from coy to maniacal, parrots have little trouble attracting our attention.

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There may never be another bird like Alex. The brainy African gray parrot, who died in September at age 31, had a grasp of numbers, colors, and even a very basic insight into the concept of 'zero' that challenged scientists' most fundamental assumptions about animal intelligence.

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This One's For You Neron Kesar -- And All The Other Newsvine Bird Lovers Out There!

Happy New Year Newsviners. Neron, this one's for you!

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All birds from Petsmart stores quarantined...

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"Alex was the top of the top," said Nancy Chambers, who met Alex a year and a half ago. As former owner of the Urban Bird store, Chambers has seen a lot of birds in her day.

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A comparative psychologist taught the parrot to learn scores of words, which he could put into categories, to count and to recognize colors and shapes.

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