Midwest Bird Expo 2009

TASC is hosting the Midwest Bird Expo 2009 on Saturday, April 25th, 2009. The show will run from 9:30am until 4:00pm at the DuPage County Fairgrounds (Main Hall) located at 2015 Manchester Road in Wheaton, Illinois.

Chris Davis, bird author and behaviorist

Australian Animal Trainer Mick McAuliffe

Dr. Karen Becker, avian veterinarian

Hoffman's Wild Animal Shows

Avian veterinarian Q&A with Dr. Pete Sakas

Indoor Summits' Clay Lick Climbing Cliff

FSBEC's How-to-Show-Birds Booth

Birds of Prey from the Great Lakes Falconers & Northern Illinois Raptor Center

Chicago Zoological Society Brookfield Zoo

Dr. Jean Dubach, animal geneticist

Many wonderful bird breeders

Bird Rescues and shelters including Bird Lovers Only Rescue Service, Inc.

Northern Illinois Parrot Society

Bird Supply vendors

HUGE raffles throughout the day

Grand Prize Raffles including "Zookeeper for a Day" experiences and huge parrot cage setups

The famous TASC kitchen featuring Portillo's beef and more

TASC's Education Stations, Games, prizes and fun for all!

First 200 people get free goodie bags!!!

To view our sponsors or to order your ALL ACCESS PASS and register for the events listed in advance this year please go to http://www.midwestbirdexpo.com/

Snowball in NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE

Dr. Aniruddh Patel was interviewed by the New York Times Magazine on cognitive music studies involving Snowball. Studies were done to test whether Snowball's rhythmic movements matching the differing tempos of music were by chance or whether Snowball truly moves to the beat. Those studies revealed that Snowball does in fact feel the beat and adjusts to the tempo of the music. Click on the link below to read more about the research.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/magazine/14ideas-section01-t-003.html

Snowball in VANITY FAIR

Here is an enjoyable article from Vanity Fair regarding Snowball and the American Ballet Theatre. Personally, I would love to see Snowball in ballet slippers and a tutu!

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/wolcott/2009/01/it-may-be-the-most.html

Studying synchronization to a musical beat in nonhuman animals

The recent discovery of spontaneous synchronization to music in a nonhuman animal (the sulphur-crested cockatoo Cacatua galerita eleanora) raises several questions.

How does this behavior differ from non-musical synchronization abilities in other species, such as synchronized frog calls or firefly flashes? What significance does the behavior have for debates over the evolution of human music? What kinds of animals can synchronize to music, and what are the key methodological issues for research in this area? This paper addresses these questions and proposes some refinements to the “vocal learning and rhythmic synchronization hypothesis.”

http://www.birdloversonly.org/docs/Study_NYAS.pdf