Mononymous painter Bruce has carved out a lucrative niche on social media with his abstract works, made entirely from colored fruit juice. He’s amassed more than 37,000 followers on Instagram and is enjoying a wave of fame on Tumblr. His works – lively, contemporary and daring – have been published in two separate books.

Bruce, 17, is also a parrot.

The green-and-blue-spotted parrot is one of 10 birds that became famous online after their owner, Vancouver resident Tina Kirmis, began posting souvenir-worthy videos and photographs of her feathered friends on his Instagram page. @follow_the_feathers.

Among them were videos of Bruce in his “berry-eating dome,” a glass structure designed by Kirmis to protect his kitchen walls from the bird’s disorderly eating habits.

Videos show Bruce demolishing her berries with such enthusiasm that pieces splatter around the dome, leaving Jackson Pollock-style paintings on the sheets of paper she leaves underneath.

People “can’t get enough” of the videos, Kirmis says, and Bruce, unbeknownst to him, became a star.

Kirmis, who volunteers with Vancouver’s Greyhaven Exotic Bird Sanctuary and has adopted 17 beaked companions so far, says she finds it impossible to leave behind a bird in need.

“I love the ones that don’t have feathers,” she says of the 10 winged roommates with whom she currently shares her apartment. There are five parakeets, two cockatiels, two parrots and a 50-year-old Amazonian parrot named Sonny. They all fly and, much to people’s surprise, Kirmis says, they all have their own personalities.

A parakeet named Betty is the feistiest of the lot – “She was so naughty that I actually had to wear a denim jacket, a scarf and safety glasses when I let her out,” says Kirmis – even though she got calmed down in recent years.

Budgies Betty and Barney are in the middle of a blossoming romance. Mildred, a second parrot, is “the boss,” despite her miniature size. Winston, who was adopted as a friend by Willie, prefers human company. All he wants to do, Kirmis says, “is snuggle.”

And then, of course, there’s Bruce, the social media influencer. Star of Mukbang. Artist. Philanthropist. (His books, “Bruce’s Berry Good Art” and “Bruce In His Berry Eating Dome,” raise funds for Greyhaven and The Nest bird sanctuaries.)

“It’s a bit like a soap opera, with so much going on among all the birds,” Kirmis laughs.

@Follow_The_Feathers follows the antics of Kirmis’ ten mischievous birds. (Courtesy of Tina Kirmis)

Kirmis says she started her social media account as a joke to show the fun side of bird ownership to close friends, but as fans built up, she saw the opportunity to teach a valuable lesson to potential pet owners.

The majority of Kirmis herds are survivors and some of them suffer from significant health problems. Owning a bird, no matter how small, is no walk in the park, she says.

“I haven’t gone on vacation since 2010,” she says with a laugh, “my vet bills last year were literally the same as my rent.”

Bruce, who was adopted into the home eight years ago, suffers from heart and liver problems and cataracts in both eyes. Sonny, who is 50 but still surprisingly young for his species, can no longer fly or perch and must take eight medications a day. However, he is still very satisfied with life, Kirmis assures, given his regular hobbies of playing with toys, eating and scratching his head.

“The level of care can be high. They are little members of the family, so you have to keep them and take care of them like the precious little souls that they are,” she says.

The herd needs food once a day and fresh water several times a day. Certain areas of the house had to be protected against birds: the legs of a dining room table, victim of the incessant pecking of a bird, must now wear socks. Even bedtime, she adds, no longer belongs to her.

“They all go to bed at 7:30 p.m., then I’m kicked out of the living room.”

Kirmis attributes her fondness for poultry to the very first bird she owned, a parakeet purchased in 2003 named Elvis.

The “smartest, coolest little bird you could ever meet,” she says, and it was his adorable, lively persona that encouraged her to continue adding to her ever-growing flock.

Twenty-one years and 17 birds later, she laughs and wonders how different her life might have been if she had never adopted that first little guy. She wouldn’t want Bruce scattering raspberries all over her kitchen walls, or the chattering parrots distracting her while she works from home. She wouldn’t need to bird-proof her house or visit the vet as often.

Her life, she says, would not have been as exciting.