Cockatoo use drum solos for courtship

Usually in musical groups, drummers remain on the sidelines. Although a lot depends on them in music, even if you are Ringo Starr, John and Paul will still get more attention. In the animal kingdom, it seems like a sense of rhythm is valued more. At least among cockatoos: parrot males even make their own drumsticks to win love. And they play great!

Born drummers

As ornithologists recently found out, male cockatoos actively use their sense of rhythm to attract females. Playing on stick surfaces is part of a complex courtship process that also includes screeching, flapping, and redness. Moreover, for parrots it is important not only to demonstrate the ability not to lose tact, but also to have their own style of play. This is just another way to find an assistant.

Researchers studied 18 males, and each showed an individual approach to the performance of percussion works. At that time, females didn’t just nod their heads to the beat: they carefully watched as the males cut off a thick, strong branch, leaving about 20 cm from it - since the cockatoos also demonstrate the strength of the beak.

All you need is love

Other animals, such as frogs and some species of birds, also use rhythm and music for communication and courtship. But even chimpanzees who love to drum their arms and legs on stumps do not have such a precise sense of rhythm as a cockatoo. These birds can play in a steady rhythm with a completely unique style for half an hour, which requires a lot of practice (and enthusiasm). Even when the intervals between the blows were large, together they still made up a single rhythmic structure.

The discovered cockatoo talents say a lot not only about these musical birds, but also about people. Now scientists suggest that a sense of rhythm and music generally appeared in humans as a necessary tool for collective interaction: for example, dancing or ritual acts.

However, cockatoo studies suggest that the first drummer was not the shaman who introduced the tribe into a trance, but a man who noticed a pretty woman. Everyone in this world is driven by love!