New York Post
Bird is the word.
The hottest new star on TikTok is a crooning cockatiel with killer pipes and a taste for the classics.
Kiki, known as @kiki.tiel on the popular social media site, where he boasts 3.6 million followers and counting, has achieved widespread fame thanks to his special skillset, shown in a series of videos — including a recent one that caught him jamming along to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.”
Grace Robinson, 19, picked up the clever pet when he was just a little guy. She never tried to teach him any songs, she told South West News Service — Kiki did that all on his own.
The feathered Frank Sinatra has been like a sponge from the very beginning, Robinson said — when he hears something he likes, he’ll whistle it back to you.
Kiki’s favorites appear to be the children’s song, “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,” the classic iPhone ringtone, a wolf whistle (tsk, tsk) and the funk classic, “September.”
A video of the tiny tunemaker belting out the 1970’s hit snagged 11.4 million viewers in just a few weeks.
“He just picks things up. I haven’t taught him any of them,” said Robinson, who lives in Norfolk, England,
“He loves singing to the mirror and if you show him your phone, he’ll do the iPhone ringtone,” she said
Robinson is trying to encourage the diminutive ditty lover to add to his already impressive repertoire — but she’s finding that Kiki tends to learn at his own pace.
“I’m trying to teach him ‘Another one bites the dust’ by Queen but he’s not got it yet,” she confessed.
“I think maybe he’s running out of storage in his little brain,” she joked.
This was originally published on The New York Post
