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

"Season of Giving" Christmas Show

On Wednesday, December 17, 2008 beginning at 2:30pm Eastern, Animal Talk Naturally will host a two hour "Season of Giving" show through their regular platform on Blog Talk Radio at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/animaltalknaturally to raise funds for Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch http://www.crystalpeaksyouthranch.org/ in order to help rescue horses and kids; Paws and Think http://www.pawsandthink.org/ which pairs at-risk shelter dogs with at-risk youth; and "Animals In Paradise" http://www.animalsinparadise.com/ which is an upcoming documentary film about the eternal lives of animals.
Animal Talk Naturally will celebrate Christmas by supporting two nonprofit animal charities and an upcoming documentary film on the eternal lives of animals on their second annual Christmas show with twelve of their former and repeat guests! Each of the twelve special guests - who are each giving of their time and talent - will share their own unique message during the show, along with Christmas music provided by Jean Wenzel and Mary Buddemeyer-Porter. Irena Schulz, Snowball mom, will be one of the guests on "Season of Giving."
“We’ve had a lot of support from businesses stepping up to provide giveaways to anyone in our listening audience who donates $50 or more to at least one of the charities or the documentary film during the live two-hour show.” comments Dr. Jeannie Thomason, co-host of Animal Talk Naturally. “Each business that is participating will not only have their name and website mentioned on the show but, they are also receiving an entire year of advertising on
our Season of Giving page on Animal Talk Naturally’s Website http://www.animaltalknaturally.com/aseason-of-giving/ which will remain on the site until next year’s show!”
“We have also received tremendous support from two other radio shows - EFA Artists for Animals http://www.blogtalkradio.com/EFA and also Something About Women http://www.mykkim.com/default.asp?pid=13256 -a local NM radio show.” states Dr. Kim Bloomer, co-host of Animal Talk Naturally. “We are hoping that businesses will also donate directly to the charities or the documentary along with the live listening audience during the show. The more the better! The good news is that both charities are 501c3 non-profits so your donations are tax deductible. The documentary film is not a non-profit but whoever donates to "Animals In Paradise" will have their name listed in the credits and possibly your own piece of
video with your pet will be included in the film. Jesus was born into the world to give His life for us. The least we can do is give of our resources to help those less fortunate during this special time and season of giving.”
To find out more and how you can get involved go to http://www.animaltalknaturally.com/a-season-ofgiving/
Contact:
Dr. Jeannie Thomason
Animal Talk Naturally
http://www.animaltalknaturally.com/
Phone: 530.347.9211
Email: jeannie@animaltalknaturally.com

About Animal Talk Naturally:
Celebrating the art of natural animal health, the truth of animal nature and the love of the human/animal bond from a Christian faith-based focus. Veterinary naturopaths Dr. Kim Bloomer and Dr. Jeannie Thomason, now in their fourth year of online talk radio; bring in a wide variety of industry experts to help share the passion Animal Talk Naturally is known for by their audience. Join them bi-weekly for an often passionate, sometimes serious, sometimes funny, but never boring show! You and your animals can be “ears up” for the podcast at http://www.animaltalknaturally.com/

Dr. Aniruddh Patel Receives ASCAP Award

(Left) On December 9, 2008 Dr. Aniruddh Patel, President of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, accepted an ASCAP award for his most recent book "Music, Language, and the Brain" in New York City. Dr. Aniruddh Patel heads the cognitive music studies involving Snowball the dancing cockatoo. (Upper right) Dr. Patel with two judges from ASCAP and Oliver Sacks who received an award for "Musicophilia." (Lower right) ASCAP judge, Ani Patel and Joan Bossert, Dr. Patel's editor from Oxford University Press.

We congratulate Dr. Aniruddh Patel on his remarkable research not only with Snowball, but on his use of technology to investigate the correlation between language, music, and the brain.

For more information regarding "Music, Language, and the Brain" please visit: http://www.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195123753/

For more information regarding "Musicophilia" please visit: http://www.oliversacks.com

Living The Scientific Life

Snowball is on "Living The Scientific Life" which you can view by clicking on the link below.

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/12/snowball_the_parrot_dances_to_1.php