Polly want 12 million views? Prancing parrot goes viral on social media
Pet caique called 'Little Bird' plays with paper towel, internet goes wild
A parrot in St. John's is now famous thanks to a home video that went viral on Facebook, with millions of people fascinated by how it plays with a simple paper towel.
Owner Leanne Guzzwell is surprised by the reaction.
"I had shared the video publicly so I could share it to a few bird groups," Guzzwell wrote in an email to CBC.
"I knew other bird owners would appreciate the video but I had NO idea how many views and shares it would get. Everyone loves him!"
Guzzwell owns the St. John's branch of Little Rays Reptile Zoo, an animal rescue business that does tropical animal presentations for special events and children's birthday parties.
LIttle Bird is a pet she keeps in her home. Guzzwell says she was cleaning the bird's cage, when he decided to put on a show.
"I sat on the floor and laid the paper towels down and was about to wipe down his cage and then the rest of what happened is in the video lol." said Guzzwell.
"He's never played with paper towel before, but does like to hop. There's been a few times he has hopped in circles around a bottle of (bird safe) cleaner."
Guzzwell posted the video on Monday. By Thursday, it had almost 10 million views — and counting.
In addition to people watching Little Bird do his thing, the post has been shared more than 100,000 times. Guzzwell has received close to 1,000 new friend requests.
She said in a Facebook post that she's been contacted by "tons" of media outlets and one network in Los Angeles is even interested in a licensing deal with Little Bird.
Guzzwell said the two-year-old bird "loves to hop and whistle. He talks a little bit, like 'Hi Little Bird' or 'What's Little Bird doing?' And he makes big kissing sounds when I kiss him or ask for a kiss!"
Caiques can live up to 40 years and are native to the Amazon Basin in South America. They're known to be playful and energetic birds, and are becoming popular as household pets.
Little Bird is not the first of Guzzwell's pets ot make the news.
In June 2014, her pet red-footed tortoise Strawberry Shortcake went missing in Mount Pearl which garnered quite a bit of media attention before finally being found safe and sound.