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You, webwily blog reader, have probably seen video of Snowball, the dancing fool who happens to be a cockatoo (Cacatua galerita eleanora). It's gotten three and a half million hits, some of whom are not me.

Snowball has been on many TV shows. (I especially like this one, where a panel of eminent scientists try to dance like a bird, at about 1:01.)

Snowball's work has been studied by other scientists, who verify that he can keep a beat, and note that he dances better with a partner.(Patel et al., "Investigating the human-specificity of synchronization to music". Proc. 10th Intl. Conf. on Music Perception and Cognition.)

This bird is a great dancer. In addition to his mastery of classic moves like kicks, he has a gripping repertoire of crest flings, not to mention hoarse cries. Like Fred Astaire, he conveys joy.

In the initial video of this charismatic bird dancing to the Backstreet Boys, if you tear your eyes from Snowball's high-kicking luminous self, you may detect a parrot in a cage in the background. It is bobbing enthusiastically. Not all birds are equally talented.

The late, famous, Alex was apparently a head-bobber. Many people have posted video of their birds dancing, and none seem likely to challenge Snowball's pre-eminence. I searched YouTube for examples so you don't have to. (No really, you don't have to, I know you have stuff to do.)

That Alexandrine parakeet is not really breakdancing, for instance. Nor do I feel that the hyacinth macaw is committed to its interpretation of “The Sweet Escape. As for the cockatoo doing “Hula Girl,” that's straight out of vaudeville. Nice bird, doesn't have the hips for the job.

But Babe, who seems to be a Black-capped Conure, dances fairly well and squawks with it.

I like Jake the Black-headed Caique's “jumpstyle” moves.

And the unnamed umbrella cockatoo who stars in “Death Metal Parrot” has got the passion.

Apparently, if you have a bird of modest talent, the face-saving move is to claim it likes techno.

You don't have to be a dancing bird aficionado to see that Snowball is remarkable. My friend zorca, urged by fans to watch the video, found his work surprisingly effective, and conceded, “Not bad for a white bird.”

Snowball resides at Bird Lovers Only, a rescue operation. Although parrots are highly-desired, costly creatures, they are difficult pets. From a selfish human point of view, their ability to scream at high volume for hours, inflict grievous flesh wounds, and efficiently destroy property are drawbacks.

Their tendency to approve of one family member and dislike the others is often unwelcome. Their decorative aspects are lessened if, as regularly happens, they spend their idle time plucking out their own feathers.

From a more unselfish standpoint, parrots are social to the bone, so to be alone all day is agonizingly sad for them. The ones who pull their feathers out are crazy with boredom (or were crazy with boredom in the past and now can't shake the habit). Parrots long for matrimony. When they're denied a suitable parrot spouse, a person in the household can take the place of That Special Somebird. Sadly, that person generally makes a rotten mate for a bird. Parrot couples are together 24 hours a day, and that's how they like it. Human love-objects seldom permit birds such devotion.

Many captive birds don't get to fly. I don't know what to say about that.

Thus, many parrots end up in parrot rescue, crazed and maybe bald, leaving behind vistas of splintered wood and shredded fabric, ringed with angry neighbors.

Snowball's is an inspiring story. I can't decide if it's a Happy Feet story, an Outsider Art story, or a Pygmalion story. (I hope the next scene doesn't find him battling addiction.)

Snowball had at least three owners before going to parrot rescue. His sheer talent has won him international fame, the devotion of parrot rescuer Irena Shultz, and a permanent home at Bird Lovers Only.

The greatest dancing bird the world has ever seen! Surely there is no poor country bird anywhere whose talents could ever rival his?