Each Palm Cockatoo methodically designs and decorates its musical tools

September 19, 2023 5:43 PM

The Palm Cockatoo is only found at the top of Cape York in Far North Queensland and drums on trees by fashioning its own musical instruments from wood and seed pods in a bid to attract potential mates or mark its territory. A study led by the Australian National University has shown another side to the parrots, finding that each bird methodically designs and decorates its musical tools according to individual taste. "We already knew that they have highly personalised rhythms when they drum, allowing other birds to recognise who is drumming from a long way away," lead author Professor Robert Heinsohn said.

"Now we know there is also highly individualised expression in the crafting of the tool. Watching them whittling their tools down to the shape they want is like watching a master wood sculptor at work."

posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (4 comments total)

"The females watch every move, while the males demonstrate their immense bill strength while they snip through up to 3 centimetres of hardwood," he said.

Boys and their hardwood, I swear...

That's a fun looking cockatoo. I used to spend a bit of time in Jabiru in the NT and the trees would empty of hundreds of cockatoos in the morning with the nocturnal bat population swooping in to take their place. Really cool/creepy/awesome to see. They were those white cockatoos though, not these badboys.
posted by GamblingBlues at 5:52 PM on September 19, 2023 [4 favorites]

I wonder why their reproductive rates are so poor. Is it something innate, stress from habitat loss, or something else? Drummers don’t get much respect, but these guys are pretty awesome!
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:16 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

and prefer to nest in trees that are hundreds of years old.

This was my guess about the answer to your question going in, GenjiandProust.

The probably extinct Ivory-billed woodpecker in the US also liked big trees

parents work together to dig out a tree cavity roughly 15–70 feet (4.6–21.3 m) from the ground to create the nest, the typical depth of which is roughly 50 cm (20 in).

posted by jamjam at 9:18 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

They are just so punk rock and it breaks my heart a little that their numbers are so low. I really want them to thrive because they’re so freaking cool.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 12:40 AM on September 22, 2023