Herbert Birdsfoot

PERFORMER	Jerry Nelson
DEBUT	1970
PATTERN	Lavender

Herbert Birdsfoot was introduced on Sesame Street in Season 2 as a lecturer, usually with Grover as his assistant.

He served as the replacement for Kermit the Frog's lecturing job during his absence from the show in its second season. With Kermit's return, the character was quietly phased out within a few years. In Season 4, Grover briefly mentioned him in passing during Kermit's lecture about "top" and "bottom."

His absence in new segments was referenced in Episode 0627 when Big Bird asks Grover about Herb's whereabouts; Grover says that he hasn't seen him at all. He is referenced again in Episode 0873 when Big Bird complains about helping with his laundry. Herbert's segments continued to be re-used through Season 28 and his last known appearance was in The Muppet Movie during the finale, where he can be spotted between Count von Count and Sherlock Hemlock.

Herbert was referenced many years later in a 2018 sketch featuring Chance the Rapper; his name appears on a clipboard, listed as handling the props for a theatrical production. (First: Episode 4908) He was named as a resident of Sesame Street in 2025, by Ernie, in a video for Glamour. (YouTube) Ernie similarly namedrops him in a 2025 video shared on Sesame Street's social media outlets. (video) Grover mentions him to be a suspect of eating Cookie Monster's pie in the "Forks Out" parody video. (video)

His name is a play on the pasture crop "bird's-foot trefoil," which was familiar to Jim Henson because of his father's work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Sketches

Cookie Puzzle

ET Family

OP Family

Hopping Poem

M and W

AN Family

The

Borrowing a Vacuum

Alphabet

Count to 20

Counting Three Blocks

Over and Under

Shadow

M Sound

ET Family Delivery

Episodic appearances

• Episode 0158 — Herbert critiques Big Bird's poem about "AN."
• Episode 0196 — Herbert accompanies Molly Scott in her "days of the week" song. In another scene, he remarks that he lived on a farm when he was a child. It's suggested that he's a teacher as he mentions marking Grover's test papers.
• Episode 0453 — Sponsor voiceover, along with Grover.

Book appearances

Herbert presents a ring to a lady friend in the February 1975 issue of Sesame Street Magazine.

• The Sesame Street Storybook (1971)
• The Sesame Street ABC Storybook (1974)
• Una Sorpresa (1976)
• The Sesame Street Mystery Coloring Book (1977)
• The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980)
• A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch (1981)
• Put & Play Magic Show (1981)
• Bounce Along with Big Bird (1987)

Album appearances

• The Official Sesame Street 2 Book-and-Record Album (1971), "High, Middle, Low"
• The Muppet Alphabet Album (1971), "Herbert's Silly Poem" and "The Tale of Tom Tattertall Tuttletut"
• Havin' Fun with Ernie & Bert (1972), "The Magic Cookie" and "Pat Pat Patty Pat"
• Big Bird Sings! (1974), "Big Bird Writes a Poem"
• C is for Cookie (1974), "The Magic Cookie" and "The Monster's Three Wishes"