Little Bird



Little Bird first appeared on Sesame Street in Season 1, and was often used as a foil to Big Bird, due to their contrasting sizes. Little Bird was a refurbished version of the Muppetised Kenner Gooney Bird, created by Jim Henson for Easy Bake Oven commercials in 1968.

Although Little Bird is primarily performed by a female puppeteer, the character is most often male. The song "Mr. Big Bird, Mr. Little Bird" appears on the Grin & Giggle with Big Bird LP, where the character is referred to using masculine pronouns. The 1973 Character Style Guide from CTW also describes him as a "he." In contrast, Episode 2748 (1990) features a street story in which Little Bird is referred to using feminine pronouns. In episode 59 of The MuppetCast, Fran Brill confirmed in an e-mail that she always thought of Little Bird as a male.

Henson, who originated the Bird in the Kenner commercials, performed Little Bird in at least two sketches from the first season: a sketch from Episode 0028 in which he meets Big Bird, and the game show "Pick Your Pet." Although Little Bird was used sporadically on the show, he proved effective with test audiences: "Although he did not appear often, children were really attentive to Little Bird. They participated fully during his "Imagination Game". Perhaps he could play a greater role on the street."

In addition to the sketches listed below, Little Bird was featured in "Wonderful/Yucchy", singing about his lunch, the contents of which are wonderful to him but yucky to a passer-by. He also appeared in a sketch where a cow named Lola tries to find a home and encounters an unsuccessful attempt to live in Little Bird's nest. In that sketch, Little Bird is performed by Jerry Nelson.

Little Bird was used rarely on the show itself as the 1970s ended (although he continued as a minor character in books). However, he made a few cameo appearances on the show during the 1980s and 1990s. On-screen appearances include a brief fly-by in the song "Do-Op Hop," at Birdland in "The Birdland Jump," and a line in "We Are All Earthlings." Little Bird's most recent US puppet appearance was in a 1999 Sesame Street group shot photo (pictured). Little Bird also appeared in the "Rainbow Connection" finale in The Muppet Movie, and appears as an animatronic figure in the ride Spaghetti Space Chase at Universal Studios Singapore.

One episode in 1990 (in which she appears as a girl) featured a street story focused on Little Bird moving to Sesame Street. She tries to be nest mates with Big Bird, but finds that she can't sleep with the noise of his snoring. She asks Oscar if she can move into his trash can, but he says he doesn't share his can with anybody nice, unless they're messy. He starts to warm up to the idea when he realizes they're arguing about it, but by then Little Bird isn't interested anymore. After she decides she wouldn't want to live on Snuffy's back either, everyone gets the idea to build her a house out of an old milk carton. A regular sized one is too small, so they build one out of a Snuffleupagus sized carton, except another bird moves in before she can. Finally, when everyone is drinking glasses of milk to empty another carton, Little Bird decides to just move back to the park instead.

Marionette versions of Little Bird have been used often for flying scenes such as in the "Song of One," "I Whistle a Happy Tune," and "Do-Op Hop". An Little Bird appeared in the 2018 TV special When You Wish Upon a Pickle.

Little Bird's birthday is marked in Sesame Street Calendars as December 17th.

International appearances

 * On Sesamstrasse, his name is Klein Bibo, "klein" being German for "little", and "Bibo" referring to the translated name for Big Bird.


 * In Sesame Street books that are translated to Dutch, his name is Pinorino, referring to Pino from Sesamstraat.


 * Between 2003 and 2005 the puppet was used on Sesamstrasse for an unnamed bird and Turbo Theo in episodes 2214 and 2222, respectively. The puppet was also used as a cuckoo bird, that Finchen helped to find a new sound.

Book appearances

 * The Sesame Street Storybook, cover and frontispiece only (1971)
 * The Together Book (1971)
 * The Sesame Street Storybook (1972)
 * The Sesame Street Coloring Book (1973)
 * The Sesame Street 1, 2, 3 Storybook, cover only (1973)
 * The Sesame Street ABC Storybook, cover only (1974)
 * Big Bird's Busy Book (1975)
 * Bert's Big Band Paint-with-Water Book (1976)
 * The Sesame Street Postcard Book (1976)
 * Big Bird and Little Bird's Big & Little Book (1977)
 * Ernie's Book of Animals (1977)
 * Muppets in My Neighborhood (1977)
 * Sesame Street Goes West (1977)
 * Big Bird Gets Lost (1978)
 * The Sesame Street Cookbook (1978)
 * The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook, cover only (1978)
 * Early Bird on Sesame Street (1980)
 * Fix It, Please (1980)
 * I Can Do It Myself (1980)
 * The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980)
 * A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch (1981)
 * I Have a Friend (1981)
 * Sherlock Hemlock and the Creatures from Outer Space (1981)
 * The Sesame Street Circus of Opposites (1981)
 * Big and Little Stories (1982)
 * More Who's Who on Sesame Street (1982)
 * The Sesame Street Question and Answer Book About Animals (1983)
 * Early Bird on Sesame Street (1983)
 * Nobody Cares About Me! (1983)
 * I Think That It Is Wonderful (1984)
 * Trace & Color Alphabet (1984)
 * Big Bird's Book of Rhymes (1985)
 * Big Bird's Busy Day (1987)
 * The Colors of Spring (1987)
 * The Runaway Soup and Other Stories (1987)
 * Going Places (1988)
 * The Sesame Street ABC Book of Words (1988)
 * A My Name Is Alice (1989)
 * Great Monsterpieces (1989)
 * I Can't Wait Until Christmas (1989)
 * Bert's Beautiful Sights (1990)
 * Museum of Monster Art (1990)
 * The Treasure Hunt (1990)
 * Hide-and-Seek with Big Bird (1991)
 * Sesame Street 123 (1991)
 * Sleep Tight! (1991)
 * My Name Is Big Bird (1992)
 * We're Different, We're the Same (1992)
 * From Trash to Treasure (1993)
 * Elmo's Mother Goose (1993)
 * Elmo's Big Lift-and-Look Book (1994)
 * Sesame Street Stays Up Late! (1995)
 * Elmo's Lift-and-Peek Around the Corner Book (1996)
 * Rise and Shine! (1996; reworked as Up, Up, Up! in 2011)
 * Christmas Songs (1997)
 * Elmo Can... Quack Like a Duck (1997)
 * Elmo's Christmas Colors (1997)
 * Where Is Elmo's Blanket? (1999)
 * Land, Sea, and Sky (2002)
 * Look and Find Elmo (2002)
 * Fun with Friends (2004)
 * The City Sings a Song! (2005)
 * Holiday Fun (2005)
 * Fly Away with Big Bird (2006)
 * Learn About Measuring with Big Bird (2006)
 * Good Night, Tucked in Tight (2007)
 * Elmo's World Super Sticker Book (2007)
 * Lots of Opposites (2007)
 * Rosita's Easter on Sesame Street (2007)
 * Los oficios de Elmo: Veterinario (2008)
 * In Elmo's Easter Parade (2009)
 * Meet the People in Your Neighborhood (2009)
 * Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? (2009)
 * Busy Friends (2010)
 * Out & About (2010)
 * Plant a Tree for Me! (2010)

Merchandise

 * Sesame Street PVC figures (Applause)
 * Sesame Street PVC figures (Fisher-Price)
 * Sesame Street figurines (Enesco)
 * Sesame Street squeak toys (Tommee Tippee)
 * Sesame Street bubble toys (Little Kids, Inc.)
 * Sesame Street nightlights (Enesco)
 * Sesame Street lamps (Dolly Toy)
 * Sesame Street Christmas ornaments (Gorham)
 * Sesame Street music boxes (Gorham)
 * Sesame Street dinnerware (Gorham)
 * Sesame Street necklaces
 * Sesame Street Magic Slates
 * Big Bird's Big Little Play Pad
 * Sesame Street pencil toppers
 * Muppet Cuppets
 * Big Bird Colorforms Play Set
 * Busy Builders Playtown
 * Sesame Street record player (Fisher-Price)
 * Sesame Street needlecraft kits
 * Sesame Street Easter egg kits (PAAS)
 * Sesame Street trading cards
 * Sesame Street alarm clocks (Spartus)
 * Sesame Street picture frames (Vandor)
 * Sesame Street picture frames (Enesco)
 * Big Bird's Birdtime Stories (album cover)
 * Counting Café (video game)
 * Big Bird's Hide & Speak (video game)
 * Alphabet Avenue (video game)
 * T-shirt
 * Sesame Street bobbleheads
 * Sesame Street Kubricks