Local bird takes spot in unusual competition

Kashmir Csaky dances with her hyacinth macaw, Gucci, who recently placed fourth in a national bird dancing competition.Kashmir Csaky started singing “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” as she danced in front of the large blue parrot standing on his perch.

Gucci, a hyacinth macaw, studied her for a moment and then began to dance, swaying in time with her music. He’d pause as the song tapered off, then continue his rhythmic bopping.

He gets more into the dance when others dance with him, Csaky said. He would rather dance in a group than be that sole dancer out on the floor. Sometimes Csaky and Gucci dance together and Gucci even does a dip.

Gucci’s dancing skills won him fourth place on BirdChannel.com’s World’s First Bird Dance-Off. He competed against videos featuring Congo African Greys, blue-fronted Amazons, and others, receiving 591 votes in the competition.

Gucci, one of Csaky’s 24 birds, is 16 years old. He was born and raised in Lynchburg. His parents, London and Paris, still live there as well.

Csaky said Gucci began to dance when he was still just a baby.

“Hyacinths take naturally to dancing,” she said.

Gucci’s brother, Chanel, dances but doesn’t have the moves that Gucci does. Another of her birds, Indigo, is a larger bird and Csaky said he dances like a big guy complete with stomping.

Gucci also sings, but mostly to songs that don’t have lyrics. He will sing to the song “Tequila” and even yells the word at the end. He likes the theme song to James Bond and will sing “Old McDonald” complete with the animal noises.

Csaky is a certified parrot behaviorist and has written several freelance articles for Bird Talk so when the contest came around, she thought she wouldn’t be able to enter. A friend called her, though, and encouraged her to enter Gucci in the contest.

The competition called for bird owners to submit videos of their birds dancing and visitors to BirdChannel.com voted for their favorite clips. The birds were judged on their dance style, rhythm and creativity. The winners will be published in the January issue of Bird Talk magazine.

“The contest was a great success, it was as much fun for our staff as it was for the 100,000 visitors who voted, on all rounds, for their favorite video,” said Laura Doering, editor of Bird Talk.
After several rounds of competition, Gucci entered in the top 12, finally coming in fourth place.

“I wasn’t surprised Gucci won,” she said. “He’s probably one of the best dancers. My Yahoo group for Hyacinth owners was not happy. They thought Gucci should have won first prize.”

Even so, Gucci won a customized flight suit, ZuPreem food, and $75 that Csaky will spend in new toys.