Ever seen a bird help make tea? Idaho woman’s feathered friends go viral on TikTok

Countless people have taught their dogs new tricks. Some have even taught a cat something or two — but what about a pet bird?

An Idaho woman appears to have mastered her method — and she’s gone viral doing so.

Kerri Comsa, a 52-year-old from Meridian, started posting videos of her three pet birds in June, and she’s gained nearly 150,000 followers on her @birdmom777 TikTok.

“I started posting short videos of my lovebird, Maui and my two green cheek conures Baby and Mango back in June of our everyday life and the fun we have together,” Comsa told McClatchy News in an email. “My first video went viral at 1.6M views and then again for 1.1M views.”

Comsa started seeing her videos everywhere: On Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr and even some national news outlets, she said.

People have fallen in love with her birds. Baby, one of the green-cheeked conures, has become known to fans as “BonkyBird” after videos of him head-butting everything in sight gained traction.

Comsa has even started selling Bonky Bird merchandise because he is so popular.

“He has also ended up on several different platforms with his now famous BONKING to objects,” Comsa said. “He does this to mimic sounds and actions. I didn’t teach any of these behavior traits. He just does it for fun.”

Maui, Comsa’s lovebird, has gained tons of attention too. The bird has a talent for opening packets of seeds, even a chai tea latte.

“I was shocked and so excited to see that the world loves my bird Maui as much as I do,” Comsa said.

This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Ever seen a bird help make tea? Idaho woman’s feathered friends go viral on TikTok."