A rescued cockatoo who spent nearly a decade plucking out her feathers in grief has melted the hearts of viewers online after a video of her dancing with her new owner, with healthy feathers, went viral.
The video, shared on Instagram by Kristin Sitova on July 17, shows the bird, Audrey, bobbing and swaying in rhythm with her adoptive owner, Sitova’s husband, Misha Sitov.
“Audrey plucked out her feathers for 8 years after her owner died and we got her,” an overlaid text on the clip read. “Dancing with her daddy has been an amazing remedy.” The short video has been liked almost 1 million times to date. Audrey’s transformation has struck a chord with viewers, many of whom have praised the post for shedding light on the emotional lives of animals.
Sitova told Newsweek that the couple never intended to adopt a bird. “Misha was answering an email in his car, when he looked up to see an elderly woman sitting with Audrey in a cage on her front porch,” she said. “Being a huge animal lover, Misha waved and asked if he could say hi.”
The woman, Pat, warned that Audrey had bitten people and failed to adjust during previous attempts to rehome her. But when Misha approached, Audrey climbed into his arms and began trembling. Pat said that the bird had only ever behaved that way with her late husband, who had died eight years earlier.
In the years since, Audrey had repeatedly pulled out her feathers, a behavior common among distressed or grieving birds. A few weeks after that first meeting, Pat called and asked if the couple would take her in.
“Both of us were very excited and happy to do so,” Kristin said.
At first, Audrey bonded only with Misha and was aggressive toward Kristin.
“I had to remain very calm and slow moving to gain her trust,” she said.
However, the bird quickly connected with the family dogs, and, after three weeks, a surprising breakthrough occurred.
“The song Old Town Road started playing on the radio,” Kristin said. “Audrey was on the kitchen counter when she suddenly started singing, whistling and dancing.
“I grabbed my phone and started filming it, not quite believing what I was seeing.”
Misha joined in, and a new ritual was born. Audrey began dancing regularly with the man, selecting songs at random and expecting him to participate.
“It became a huge turning point for her,” Kristin said. “She started bonding with me and becoming very affectionate.”
The dancing also appeared to help Audrey recover physically.
“She stopped plucking and redirected her energy into something far more positive,” Kristin said. “It’s been incredible to see how they now dance in such synchronization and come up with new moves every day.”
The Instagram video is one of several the couple have shared, but this particular clip quickly went viral.
“The outpouring of support and thoughtful responses to the video is deeply heartwarming to us,” Kristin said. “It’s moving and rewarding to see just how many people’s days we made brighter by Audrey’s story and how much awareness we helped raise about animals’ emotions and health.
“I’m glad to be part of the conversation around how animals are people, too,” Kristin added.