How to Do the TikTok Bird Trend

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Influencer Gia Rutkowski explains the best ways to film the Bird Trend

Co-authored by Amy Bobinger, BA Reviewed by Candace Gasper

Last Updated: January 26, 2026 Fact Checked

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What is the Bird Trend?

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How to Do the Bird Trend

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Trend Origins

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Video

The latest TikTok trend has landed, and it’s an egg-cellent way to have fun with your friends and family. The Bird Trend is a fun illusion set to a song, but if you don’t know how to do it, you might feel like you’re just winging things. (Okay, we’ll stop with the bird puns—but we’re not apologizing.) Read on for everything you need to know about doing the bird trend, with helpful tips from influencer Gia Rutkowski!

How do you do the TikTok Bird Trend?

Influencer Gia Rutkowski says to rest your feet on a counter behind you and wear a large shirt to create the illusion of a bird perched on a human’s arm. Place your hands on the other person’s arm for support, and set up your camera at a front-facing view so you only see your hands and wrists. Then, tweet like a bird.

Section 1 of 3:

What is the Bird Trend?

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The Bird Trend is a viral internet challenge where people pretend to be a bird. In this trend, “one person holds their arm out, and another person appears to perch on it with their hands, with seemingly no support. It mimics the look of a parrot perched on the arm of a human, with the hands resembling talons,” says Rutkowski.^{[1]
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Gia Rutkowski
Influencer

Expert Interview} The videos are usually short—about 5–6 seconds, and the Bird usually pretends to whistle or tweet along with a song (seen in videos like this one from @havea_676 or this one from @jademyler).^{[2]
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- Other names for the Bird Trend include the Owl Arm Trend and Bird On Arm Trend.
- “This trend is done with the use of camera angle and hiding the legs. The person who is the bird in these videos contorts their bodies in one of two ways to achieve the perched look,” according to Rutkowski.^{[3]
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Meet the wikiHow Expert

Gia Rutkowski is an influencer, content creator, speaker, and consultant based in Chicago, Illinois. She specializes in digital patterns and their behavioral implications, with over 130k followers on TikTok, Substack, and YouTube.

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How to Do the Bird Trend

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Set up your camera ahead of time. It’s a good idea to set up the camera and start recording before you get into position—especially if the Bird has their legs propped up. It might be hard for the Bird to hold this position, and it can be uncomfortable for the other person, too. You can edit the clip later to remove the setup. Rutkowski says the camera is set at a front-facing view so the viewer cannot see the feet at all and can only see the wrists and hands resting on the other person’s outstretched arm.^{[4]
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Gia Rutkowski
Influencer

Expert Interview}
- Put the camera on a tripod or have a third person hold it. Start the countdown on TikTok to start recording your video, and get into position quickly. It might take a little practice to get set up in time.
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Stretch out your arm on a flat surface if you’re the Person. The Bird Trend needs at least two people—a “Bird” and a “Person.” The Person pretends that the Bird is perched on their arm. Sit next to a table, countertop, or other flat surface with your arm outstretched.
- The Person’s arm is usually supporting some of the Bird’s weight, so be sure to rest your arm on a sturdy surface.
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Hide your hands and legs and perch on the Person’s arm if you’re the bird. “Position your hands and wrists directly in front so your feet on the ground are obscured,” says Rutkowski. Put your arms inside a large shirt to “obscure the contortion” so only your hands show from under the bottom hem.^{[5]
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Gia Rutkowski
Influencer

Expert Interview} Then, figure out how to hide your legs from the camera. There are a few different ways you can do this:
- Stand behind a counter or table so the camera doesn’t show your legs.
- Hoist your legs on a surface behind you, like a table or piece of furniture (seen in this video from @dani__and__jo and this video from @zeej015), advises Rutkowski.^{[6]
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  Expert Interview} You can also brace them against a wall. Note that this will put the most weight on the Person’s arm.
- Hide your legs in your shirt or a hoodie and crouch on top of a stool or table. Have the Person hide your feet with your arm. In this instance, a large shirt hides the inner workings of the illusion, and the legs are hidden by the front-facing torso and head, says Rutkowski. The surface can also be “significantly further away, such as the ledge on the wall in this video by @haruunl.” For the further away option, the [Bird’s] legs would need to be outstretched more, which could result in a loss of balance (seen in this video by @notreallyrissky).^{[7]
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- Use video editing software to remove your legs. It may help to wear green pants for this, but if you don’t have green pants, choose a color that contrasts with the background (like black pants if you’re against a light-colored wall) for easier removal. Some choose to use a green screen to create a more unrealistic effect, notes Rutkowski (seen in videos like this one from @_ashbyflorence_ and this one from @happykelli).^{[8]
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Play a bird-like melody and film the scene. The most popular song for the Bird Trend is a TikTok sound called “harley is sexy” by KI1LST. The song has a cheerful, whistling tune and no words. (The sound is taken from the background of the song “Bring It Back” by Atlanta-based rap trio Travis Porter. The original song is explicit, but the TikTok sound is not.) You can also use sounds like:
- “Three Little Birds” (Like this video from @priceadventure6 or this one from @amberwhittemore02, which both use a version of the song from Alvin & The Chipmunks)
- “Original sound” by Haruun, based on the song “New Soul” by David Donatien and Yael Naim (like in this video from @katclark or this one from @napat_un)

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How did the Bird Trend get started?

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The earliest known Bird Trend video was posted in September 2025. TikTok user @liam_r_d posted a photo set to a remix of “New Soul.” In the photo, two guys pose on school desks, with one appearing to perch on the other’s arm. More videos appeared soon after, like this one from @huzz.hunterzzzz2009, which got over 26 million views in about a week.^{[9]
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- Many TikTokers also shared behind-the-scenes views of how they made the video, like this popular one from @brookemonk, which shows her boyfriend Sam Dezz smiling while exclaiming, “My arm is being crushed!”