In Birb, companions are a big part of making your progress easier. They can automate different resources for you, including popcorn, fish, and twigs, while some companions give you completely different abilities that you can use as you progress.
In this guide, we will go through all five companions currently available in Birb: Sparrow, Seagull, Red Panda, Parrot, and Dave. I’ll explain what each companion does, how you unlock it, and which upgrades and mechanics are worth understanding.
Birb Companions Guide – XP, Evolution, Effect
Some companions are mainly designed to automate resources, while others are much more important for progression. For example, the Parrot unlocks the Dungeon and gives you access to combat, artifacts, and new equipment. So, let’s go through each companion and see how you can get the most out of them.
Sparrow
The Sparrow is the first companion you unlock after reaching Evolution 1. Its main job is to automate your popcorn gain, making it one of the first major automation systems you will use.
One important limitation is that the Sparrow cannot access the Desert, so you will still need to farm there manually.
Sparrow XP
The Sparrow gains XP by automatically collecting popcorn. You can also use the Seed Feeder to help the Sparrow gain XP faster.
As your Sparrow gets to higher levels, it becomes more efficient at gaining XP, so you generally don’t want to waste all of that XP too early.
Sparrow Flight Speed
The Sparrow starts with a flight speed of 150 px/s.
Its speed increases by 2 px/s every level, and this speed is the same across Sparrows. If the Sparrow’s level goes down, its flight speed also goes down.
Don’t confuse this with Wing Training. Wing Training affects your character, not the Sparrow.
Sparrow Resonance
Resonance lets you spend your accumulated Sparrow XP to gain a permanent multiplier for popcorn and seed gains.
The amount of XP you can drain is capped at 25% of the XP required for your next level. The longer you hold the drain, the faster the XP is converted.
The more XP you sacrifice, the larger your Resonance multiplier becomes.
My main tip here is to avoid draining all of your XP whenever possible. Sparrow XP gain becomes better at higher levels, so I recommend draining only part of your XP while the Sparrow is at a high level instead of constantly resetting its progress.
Sparrow Mitosis and Rebirb
Once your Sparrow reaches the required amount of XP, you can use Mitosis. This resets the XP needed for the process but doubles your number of Sparrows.
You can have up to 16 Sparrows. Once you reach the maximum number, you can eventually use Rebirb, which resets your Sparrow level and number back to one.
Rebirbing gives you permanent bonuses to XP gain and popcorn respawn rate, so it becomes an important part of long-term Sparrow progression.
You also need the maximum Sparrow count and Nest Tier 1 before Rebirb becomes available.
Sparrow Milestones
The Sparrow has several milestones that reward you for increasing your Sparrow count and Rebirbing.
| Requirement | Reward | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Sparrows | Feeding +25% | Seeds give 25% more XP |
| 4 Sparrows | Resonance +25% | Draining gives 25% more Resonance XP |
| 8 Sparrows | Mitosis -20% | Mitosis and Rebirb require 20% less Sparrow XP |
| 16 Sparrows | Feeding +25% | Seeds give another 25% more XP |
| 1 Rebirb | Resonance +25% | Draining grants 25% more Resonance XP |
| 5 Rebirbs | Mitosis -15% | Mitosis and Rebirb require 15% less Sparrow XP |
Seagull
The Seagull is the second companion you unlock, becoming available after reaching Evolution 3.
Its main purpose is to automatically catch fish. Once you unlock the Sparrow Share milestone, the Seagull can also help your Sparrow gain XP.
Unlike your character, the Seagull has a fairly long fishing cooldown, so its fishing speed is an important part of its progression.
Seagull XP
The Seagull gains XP automatically whenever it catches fish.
The rarity of the fish affects how much XP the Seagull receives, so improving the quality of its catches can also improve its progression.
Seagull Doctrines
The Seagull has a unique system called Doctrines. These change how your Seagull fishes by modifying things such as catch interval, XP, fish weight, Sparrow sharing, and rare fish chances.
There are three main doctrines:
| Doctrine | Interval | XP | Sparrow Share | Weight | Rare Reroll | Rare Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balanced | 1.00x | 1.00x | 1.0x | 1.00x | 0% | 0% |
| Hunter | 1.30x | 0.94x | 0.8x | 1.18x | 72% | 0% |
| Training | 1.02x | 1.45x | 2.0x | 0.92x | 0% | 56% |
Balanced is the safest option because it has no major drawbacks.
Hunter focuses on getting better-quality and heavier fish. You sacrifice some speed and XP for much better rare fish chances.
Training is focused on XP and Sparrow sharing. It can accelerate your overall companion progression, but the downside is its high rare-fish penalty.
So, I would generally use Balanced when you want consistent results, Hunter when you are chasing premium fish, and Training when your main goal is XP and fleet growth.
Seagull Rebirb
The Seagull initially has a maximum level of 50 and can Rebirb every 25 levels.
After unlocking the Reborn milestone, the level cap increases to 100, but each Rebirb then requires 50 levels. This effectively doubles the XP requirement.
Every Rebirb improves the Seagull’s speed and rare-fish chance while also giving a bonus to popcorn gain.
Seagull Milestones
| Rebirbs | Milestone | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frenzy | Doubles catches for a short period |
| 3 | 2nd Gull | Unlocks a second Seagull |
| 5 | Sparrow Share | Seagull XP is shared with the Sparrow |
| 10 | Reborn | Raises level cap to 100 and changes Rebirb requirement to 50 levels |
| 15 | Echo | Each catch has an 8% chance to give double fish |
| 30 | Specialist | Unlocks a Specialist Seagull that only catches Rare+ fish |
| 50 | Daily Legendary | Specialist Seagull gets a guaranteed Legendary chance each day |
| 75 | Moonlit | Shiny chance increases by 0.4% per hour since the last shiny catch |
| 100 | Alpha | Doubles all Rebirb bonuses |
Seagull Forecasts
Forecasts are another important part of the Seagull system. They can modify things like luck, fishing speed, fish weight, XP, and Sparrow sharing.
The Forecast changes every hour of playtime. It does not continue changing while you are offline.
There are common, rare, and legendary forecasts.
Some notable examples include:
- Bustling Shoal – favors Balanced and improves fishing speed.
- Predator Wake – favors Hunter and improves fish weight and rare rerolls.
- Study Current – favors Training and improves XP and weight.
- Silver Thermals – a rare Balanced forecast with improved speed and rare chances.
- Blood Tide – a rare Hunter forecast with a strong rare reroll bonus.
- Archive Bloom – a rare Training forecast with strong XP and weight bonuses.
- King’s Tide – a legendary forecast with very strong overall bonuses.
The legendary King’s Tide is especially interesting because its favored doctrine rotates between Balanced, Hunter, and Training.
Rare Reroll
Rare Reroll gives your Seagull another chance when it catches a fish below Rare rarity.
When a common or uncommon fish triggers a reroll, the game generates another fish and keeps whichever result has the higher rarity.
There is also a baseline 15% reroll chance before the doctrine-specific bonus is applied.
This makes Hunter particularly strong for chasing rare fish. Its 72% Rare Reroll can combine with Forecast bonuses such as Predator Wake and Blood Tide.
Rare Penalty
Rare Penalty works in the opposite way.
When the Seagull catches a Rare or better fish, the penalty can trigger another roll and keep the lower-rarity result instead.
Training has a 56% Rare Penalty, which means it can potentially downgrade a large number of your good catches.
Some Forecasts reduce this penalty. For example, King’s Tide completely removes Training’s penalty, while Study Current provides a 20% reduction and Archive Bloom provides a 38% reduction.
Red Panda
The Red Panda is your automation companion for Twigs.
You unlock it as soon as you unlock the Birb Nest.
Unlike the Sparrow and Seagull, the Red Panda doesn’t have its own upgrade screen. Instead, it uses your character’s tree damage and movement speed to chop trees.
There are no direct speed upgrades specifically for the Red Panda.
Red Panda Offline Gain
The Red Panda also unlocks Offline Gain.
After you have been offline for a certain amount of time, usually around an hour, you can return to the game and collect resources earned while you were away.
Offline Gain has a cap, and that cap increases whenever you upgrade the Birb Nest.
The exact calculation for Offline Gain isn’t fully confirmed, but it appears to be based on your average currency generation multiplied by the amount of time you were away.
This makes the Red Panda particularly useful if you don’t want to stay online constantly just to keep your resources moving.
Parrot
The Parrot is unlocked when you gain access to the Dungeon.
Unlike the other automation-focused companions, the Parrot is primarily a combat companion. You use it to attack enemies and bosses inside the Dungeon.
The Dungeon is important because it gives you access to new items, Spirit Auras, artifacts, and other progression systems.
Parrot Upgrades
The Parrot uses SP for its upgrades.
You earn SP by defeating enemies inside the Dungeon. The amount you receive depends on the floor and the level of the enemy you defeat.
Unlike normal upgrades, these upgrades don’t have a traditional increasing cost. Instead, every point spent increases the corresponding stat by a fixed amount.
Vitality
Vitality increases your maximum HP.
Every point of Vitality gives you:
+1 HP
If you are struggling to survive in the Dungeon, Vitality is one of the most straightforward ways to increase your survivability.
Recovery
Recovery increases your passive HP regeneration.
Every point gives:
+1 HP/s
This is useful for sustaining yourself during longer Dungeon runs.
Strength
Strength increases your attack damage.
Every point gives:
+1 damage
If your goal is to clear Dungeon enemies faster, Strength is the stat you want to invest in.
Parrot Forge
The Parrot also gives you access to the Forge, which is found in the Equipment tab.
The Forge lets you upgrade equipment, infuse artifacts, and create higher-rarity artifacts.
Parrot Equipment
There are three main equipment types:
- Feather Punch – improves Strength.
- Feather Armor – improves Vitality.
- Feather Aura – improves Recovery.
These equipment pieces work as multipliers for their respective stats.
Equipment upgrades start at 0.1x, so your actual stats will initially be lower than the displayed base values.
Once an equipment piece reaches Common V, its multiplier reaches 1x, allowing you to evolve the equipment.
Every five upgrades require the equipment to evolve, and evolution requires a new type of Spirit Aura based on the equipment’s rarity.
Artifact Infusion
Artifact Infusion lets you spend SP to multiply the stats of an artifact.
Each rarity has its own maximum infusion level and maximum multiplier.
| Rarity | Max Level | Max Multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 3 | 1.36x |
| Uncommon | 5 | 1.60x |
| Rare | 7 | 1.84x |
| Epic | 10 | 2.20x |
| Legendary | 15 | 2.80x |
Higher-rarity artifacts can therefore be infused further and receive significantly larger multipliers.
Artifact Forge
The Artifact Forge allows you to combine three artifacts of the same rarity along with the required Spirit Aura.
These are used to create a random artifact of the next rarity.
For example, you can combine three artifacts of one rarity to produce a higher-rarity artifact.
One important thing to remember is that the artifacts you put into the Forge do not determine which artifact comes out. The resulting artifact is random.
Parrot Artifacts
Artifacts are items that provide additional stat bonuses when equipped.
You can obtain them from chests or through the Artifact Forge.
Your artifact equipment limit starts at 3, but you can eventually increase it to a maximum of 10 equipped artifacts.
Dave
Dave is a different type of companion and is unlocked through the Collared Dave upgrade in the Desert Upgrade Tree.
Dave has three main stats:
- Forage Size
- Golden Bonus
- Travel Speed
Each level also gives a temporary +1% Golden Bonus.
Dave Rebirb
Dave can Rebirb every 25 levels, and this can continue all the way to 1,000 Rebirbs.
Each Rebirb lets you improve one of Dave’s three main stats:
- +0.1 Golden Bonus
- +2 Forage Size
- +3% Travel Speed
Because Dave can be Rebirbed so many times, your stat allocation becomes very important in the long run.
Dave Leveling Recommendations
A recommended setup before unlocking Dave Babies is:
98 : 2 : 0
This focuses heavily on Golden Bonus while putting a small amount into Forage Size.
After unlocking Dave Babies at 100 Rebirbs, the recommended distribution becomes approximately:
90% : 10% : 0%
You can also use up to around 50 Seed Snacks during this process.
Be careful after that point because the 51st Seed Snack costs 1 Qa, and the cost continues doubling. If you have a large reserve this may be manageable, but for most players it can consume a significant portion of their resources.
Passive Dave GP Farming
If you’re using Dave primarily for passive GP farming, a recommended distribution is:
450 : 30 : 520
The general recommendation is to increase your seed boost whenever you can reasonably afford it.
This setup has been tested by players in the Birb community and is aimed at getting strong passive GP generation from Dave.
Active Birb GP Farming
For active Birb GP farming, the recommended setup is:
0 : 0 : 1000
You can put a small number of points into Travel and Forage if you want to experiment, but at this level the majority of your GP should come from Dave’s overall output.