Target cannot keep this $5 decoration on shelves – with limited edition version of the cute ornament sparking huge hunts

Target stores are struggling to keep their $5 plastic-foam-and-polyester birds on shelves as fans flock to snag the limited-edition items.

Fans are calling them ‘birbs’ and customers are flocking to buy the new collectible as soon as it goes on sale at 3am – in a frenzy similar to the Beanie Baby craze of the 1990s. reports the Wall Street Journal.

Fans then brag about their findings on social media and join Facebook and Reddit groups to share their tips.

Theresa Hoffman, a 24-year-old assistant professor of mathematics from Upstate New York, makes TikTok videos about the birds, arranging new collections and showing off some of the specimens she’s created, including a Father’s Day bird and a crayon-themed bird.

She has also added other works to her collection.

“Every workplace I’ve ever worked at, I’ve gotten people hooked on the birds, so now my former bosses still text me saying, ‘Let me know when the new birds show up,’” she said.

Target began selling the birds in 2012 and is now releasing new birds for different occasions.

Small bird decorations in the shape of trees, bird-themed advent calendars and accessories are also sold.

Hoffman has now purchased 75 birds, while Jackie Kaelble, a 37-year-old marketing communications manager from St. Paul, Minnesota, creates “birdscapes” in her living room for her collection of more than 150 birds.

Her summer birds are currently having a party in the Barbie pool, with a hot dog cart nearby.

The ‘birbs’, as they are called by fans, are released sporadically throughout the year for various occasions

Kaelble loves birds so much that she got a tattoo above her knee of a 2021 Valentine’s Day model: a strawberry bird named Poppy.

Alyssa Fine, a second-grade teacher in Madison, New Jersey, also uses 62 Birds as a storytelling tool with her students.

“At a time when people worry that kids are lacking in certain skills because they’re so addicted to technology, it was really fun to unleash their creativity and just let them do what they wanted,” she said of her students.

The ritual became so popular at school, Fine said, that she and other teachers went “bird watching” to see what they could find at Target.

She says she now resists the urge to buy even more.

“My rule now, especially now that I have one for every month of the year, is that I can’t buy another one unless it’s nicer than the ones I already have,” she said.

Fans wake up at 3am ET to purchase the new collectors’ items as soon as they go on sale

Jill Sando, Target’s executive vice president, now says the popularity of these birds, which has lasted for more than a decade, is “another example of the creativity, playfulness and magic that our in-house product design team brings to their work.”

Jill Sando, Target’s executive vice president, says the popularity of the birds, which has been around for more than a decade, “is yet another example of the creativity, playfulness and magic our in-house product design team brings to their work.”

She indicated that more selections will be introduced throughout the year, “including a new reunion collection to be revealed soon.”

But Connor Clay, a 24-year-old content creator, says part of the hype around the birds “comes from people seeing other people struggling to get them.

“It makes other people want them.”

This year’s Halloween collection has disappointed some collectors due to the lack of a beak

But this year’s Halloween birds, first displayed in July, have disappointed some collectors.

Normally the birds wear clothes, but they still have a beak.

Yet all of this year’s collections feature cartoonish mouths, leading to what one fan called “mouthgate.”

“It’s OK to be angry that all birds have beaks,” says DeAnna Allen, a 30-year-old dog sitter from Jacksonville, Florida, who has purchased 86 birds since late 2020.

“We don’t even have the option to buy one without a mouth.”

Some fans have resorted to “bird surgery” to remove the mouths, but Allen said she doesn’t think she will do that.

Still, she said, “I think we’re right to be disappointed with this season’s birds.”