VANCOUVER, B.C — Tina Kirmis has cared for a lot of rescued birds over the years, but none have compared to Bruce. “He’s got a sparkle in his eyes,” Tina says of the parrotlet, the second smallest species of parrot. When Bruce wasn’t playing fetch with Tina, or cuddling with her on the couch, he was engaging in all sorts of conversations. “He’s got a zest for life,” Tina smiles. But it wasn’t until after she adopted him from the exotic bird sanctuary where she was volunteering that Tina realized how much Bruce also relished raspberries. “He made a tremendous mess,” Tina says, recalling she would find berry bits up to six feet away from where the bird was eating. Eventually she found a way to contain Bruce’s barrage of berries under a clear dome, and shared a picture of the berry-splattered final product on an online bird group. “I didn’t realize the impact that Bruce eating would have,” Tina says. The positive response was unexpected. So Tina started posting videos of Bruce, more than eating, seemingly making abstract art with the bits of berries on paper that was placed under the dome. They’ve since earned tens of millions of views on social media, including Tina’s Instagram, “Follow the Feathers.” “I get comments like, ‘I had such a sad day ... there’s so much going on in the world, and (Bruce) made me happy,’” Tina says. She eventually published a pair of books about Bruce’s berry art to raise money for local bird sanctuaries. Life was good for the 17-year-old Bruce, until it suddenly wasn’t. “He actually started having seizures,” Tina says, adding that Bruce went blind in both eyes. “It was terrible.” Bruce stopped doing all the things he’d done before, while Tina and their veterinarian started working tirelessly to care for him. Then another parrotlet named Mildred started unexpectedly flying over to help. “Mildred was showing Bruce where his food was and where his water was,” Tina recalls. Along with physically attending to Bruce, Mildred was caring for him emotionally, too. “She’s helped him so much,” Tina says, before showing pictures of Bruce and Mildred sharing meals and exchanging cuddles. While Tina is thankful that Bruce has recovered some sight in one eye, put on weight, and was caught on camera returning to his berry dome, she’s most grateful that Bruce has gained a new best friend. “He’s happy. You can see the little sparkle in his eye,” Tina smiles. “And his had a friend who’s helping him unconditionally.”
