It鈥檚 like real-life Happy Feet. An African finch has a penchant for tap dancing so fast that humans can only see it with the help of a high-speed camera.
Blue-capped cordon-bleus (Uraeginthus cyanocephalus) tap dance when they are courting, as part of a complex song and dance duet.
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鈥淗igh-speed tap dancing is not reported in any other species,鈥� says from Hokkaido University in Japan.
Soma first noticed a strange sound while the cordon-bleus were dancing. So his team filmed the birds with a high-speed camera. The birds hold a piece of nesting material 鈥� such as a twig 鈥� in their beaks and bob their heads up and down while singing.
As they bob up, they tap their feet a few times at a speed of between 25 and 50 times a second, producing a buzzing sound.
Unusually for monogamous songbirds, both males and females perform the courtship displays. The dance intensified when their mate was on the same perch, though neither bird seemed to focus particularly on the other鈥檚 feet. Although many birds can perceive movements that happen as fast as 100 times a second, the researchers suggest the dance is more likely adding rhythm to the song; a form of non-verbal communication.
If true, that means not only is the finch the only songbird that performs a high-speed tap dance, it鈥檚 the only one to sing, dance and tap at the same time 鈥� a veritable one-bird band.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big mystery why cordon-bleus need such a way of communication,鈥� says Soma.
Simon Griffith from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia says that the finding is novel and expands our understanding of the variety of bird communication.
Griffith says he鈥檇 like to know what the dance is communicating. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not necessarily about mate choice,鈥� he says.
Since these birds are monogamous, once they鈥檙e paired, there is no need for courtship rituals. But they do need to 鈥渃oordinate the partnership鈥�, he says. 鈥淭hey have to make decisions about when they鈥檙e going to mate, when they鈥檙e going to move around and how many eggs they鈥檙e going to lay.鈥�
Journal reference:
Read more: 鈥�Born to dance: The animals with natural rhythm鈥�
(Image: Nao Ota)
