# Hey Colibri, what's this bird doing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078 "2018-03-05T20:59:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/1 "2018-03-05T20:59:51Z")
[Is that a mating dance? Challenging a rival?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEQuDyuQFKE) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/2 "2018-03-05T21:15:06Z")
It’s a White Cockatoo, aka “Umbrella Cockatoo.” They use the crest display for various reasons. In this case, it looks like a male is display to a female. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/3 "2018-03-05T21:22:50Z")
So the Elvis song is an irrelevant background element? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/4 "2018-03-05T21:29:29Z")
It’s not irrelevant. They like to dance to music. It gets them excited so they display. It’s not just Elvis. They’ll also dance to [Gangnam Style](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTl1asCDOgs) or [Pharrell.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sSb1qF7m3w&list=RDhDwUO3b58zI&index=2) ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/5 "2018-03-05T22:52:41Z")
I love how she puts her foot on his shoulder like she’s saying, “Hold your horses, big guy…” ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/6 "2018-03-05T22:58:49Z")
If cockatoos had smart phones, the males would be sending unsolicited erect crest pics. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/7 "2018-03-06T03:26:36Z")
For another example of an excited cockatoo raising its crest, you can watch one of many videos of [Harley the (female) cockatoo knocking over towers of cups.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXYevTKNFPM) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/8 "2018-03-06T14:37:43Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > So the Elvis song is an irrelevant background element? Elvis is never irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/9 "2018-03-06T15:27:31Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > I love how she puts her foot on his shoulder like she’s saying, “Hold your horses, big guy…” _We can’t go on together…_ ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/10 "2018-03-06T17:35:08Z")
Well if birds are truly partly descended from dinosaurs, you’d have to imagine T.Rex dancing too https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.6072761,-0.9646389&z=17&output=embed&dg=ntvb&q=Marine%2BCafe ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/11 "2018-03-06T17:44:48Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Well if birds are truly partly descended from dinosaurs, you’d have to imagine T.Rex dancing too > > [Google Maps](https://goo.gl/maps/pkG35vTFUg12) Do [dinosaurs dance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_E4dcbd67s) at the Marine Cafe in Doncaster, UK? ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/12 "2018-03-06T17:54:45Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > For another example of an excited cockatoo raising its crest, you can watch one of many videos of [Harley the (female) cockatoo knocking over towers of cups.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXYevTKNFPM) Those videos are hypnotic. Note the plural, couldn’t stop at one 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/13 "2018-03-06T18:38:25Z")
Birds are not “partly descended from dinosaurs”. In the usual standard of taxonomy used nowadays, they are dinosaurs. Or, if you insist on splitting them off and using the word “dinosaur” only for non-avian dinosaurs, then they’re still entirely descended from dinosaurs. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/14 "2018-03-06T19:41:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Birds are not “partly descended from dinosaurs”. In the usual standard of taxonomy used nowadays, they are dinosaurs. Or, if you insist on splitting them off and using the word “dinosaur” only for non-avian dinosaurs, then they’re still entirely descended from dinosaurs. Well, birds are dinosaurs in exactly the same way that humans are bony fish. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/15 "2018-03-06T19:45:29Z")
No, birds are bony fish in exactly the same way that humans are bony fish. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/16 "2018-03-06T19:46:19Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Well, birds are dinosaurs in exactly the same way that humans are bony fish. Not exactly. Osteichthyes is a sister group to the clade that includes humans. Birds are nested withing the dinosaur clade. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-colibri-whats-this-bird-doing/810078/17 "2018-03-06T20:39:42Z")
The lobe-finned fish aren’t considered a subset of the bony fish? “Bony fish” doesn’t just mean the ray-finned ones, does it?