Birdo

Birdo
Birdo in Mario Kart Tour.
Information
First Appearance	Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003) "Mario Kart 8" (2014, on an in-game advertisement)
Latest Appearance	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2023)
Total Appearances	Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Mario Kart Wii Mario Kart Tour Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Weight Class(es)	Medium

Birdo is a recurring character in the Super Mario series, first appearing in Super Mario Bros. 2 as an enemy that tries to hit Mario by spitting out eggs from her large round nose.

She made her first playable appearance in the Mario Kart series in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, where she's Yoshi's default partner. She later appears in Mario Kart Wii as an unlockable character, and she later returns to the spinoff game Mario Kart Tour. Eventually, she also returned to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as a playable character for the Booster Course Pass. As depicted in Tour and 8 Deluxe, Birdo has multiple color variants, similar to Yoshi and Shy Guy.

Characteristics

Birdo looks somewhat like Yoshi, but there are a slight differences. For one, Birdo is pink in color, she has a white chest and on her left hand, she shows off a diamond ring. She has red spikes going along her back and tail. She has a large, open mouth and eyelashes, unlike Yoshi. She also has a big red bow that she wears on the back of her head. You gotta love that bow, you know. Her hands and feet have claws, she has four fingers on each hand and three toes on each foot. She does not wear shoes like Yoshi does. She also has white pads on the plant of her feet.

How to Unlock

Mario Kart Wii

• Complete Time Trials on 16 different tracks.
• Receive 250 WFC wins.
• Or play 1,350 Races.

Mario Kart Tour

• Purchase her from the Daily Selects for 3,000 Coins if she appears.
• Obtain her from the Pipe.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

• Purchase the Booster Course Pass DLC.

Game Appearances

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Birdo's first appearance in the Mario Kart series is Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. In this game, she is Yoshi's default partner. Her Special Item is the Birdo's Egg which functions like the Yoshi's Egg, but has pink spots and is vastly different from Birdo's pure white eggs.

Her unlockable kart is the Turbo Birdo, a middleweight kart with average Speed and Acceleration, while being slightly heavier than the other middleweight karts. Her signature emblem appears in the Dry Dry Desert course, and the Staff Ghost features her and Yoshi riding the Turbo Yoshi. This staff ghost also features the same characters on the Yoshi Circuit course. Birdo's bow is smaller in this game than in regular appearances.

On the Mushroom City and Yoshi Circuit courses, there are signs that read "Ribbon" with "Birdo watching" in smaller letters near the center, a pun on the observation term birdwatching. They feature Birdo posing.

When Yoshi Circuit returned as a retro track in Mario Kart DS, the Ribbon signs returned as well, making this Birdo's only appearance in the game.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2

While Birdo isn't playable in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, she makes a cameo appearance in several course signs and in the crowd when the player wins a trophy.

Mario Kart Wii

Birdo later reappeared as an unlockable middleweight character in Mario Kart Wii. She is balanced in weight, top speed, and acceleration. Though when she goes off road, she loses a middling amount of speed. As with the other middleweight characters, Birdo shares the same karts and bikes, but mainly in her signature colors such as purple and magenta, including her signature vehicle, the Sugarscoot. She gets a small Weight and Off-Road boost, while her best bonus stat is her Mini-Turbo. She shares this with Diddy Kong, but is beaten out by Koopa Troopa, Dry Bones, Wario, and Dry Bowser. When combined with the Mach Bike, Birdo has the strongest Mini-Turbo of all middleweights.

Next to Miis, Birdo is the only playable character that doesn't have a staff ghost. She is also the only playable female character to not receive any Speed boosts.

Mario Kart 8/Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

While Birdo doesn't physically appear in Mario Kart 8, a picture of her, Peach, and Daisy appear on some of the Women of Racing Organization banners that appear throughout N64 Royal Raceway. In Sunshine Airport, her name is mentioned on the loudspeaker.

Despite not being playable in Mario Kart 8, in it's port, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, she makes a return as a playable character in Wave 4 of the Booster Course Pass DLC, with multiple colored variants akin to Yoshi. She was the first character added to Deluxe since its’ port to the switch, which was a surprise as when the DLC was originally announced it never mentioned returning characters, only courses.

Mario Kart Tour

After an 11-year absence from the Mario Kart series, Birdo returns as a playable character in Mario Kart Tour, debuting during the Holiday Tour that took place on December 18, 2019 along with her signature kart the Turbo Birdo. Here, she is classified as a Super character and her Special Skill is the Birdo's Egg. While it functions identically to the Yoshi's Egg, the Birdo's Egg has a white, spotless design. Birdo's voice clips are reused from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. Like the other unique characters, she has her own cup.

A light-blue, yellow, black, blue, white, orange, and red Birdo appear as playable characters available from the Vancouver Tour, 2020 Yoshi Tour, 2021 Yoshi Tour, 2nd Anniversary Tour, 2022 Yoshi Tour, and the 2023 Winter Tour respectively. All the Birdos are Super drivers except for black and white, who are High-End drivers. Birdo, Birdo (Light Blue), Birdo (Yellow), Birdo (Orange) and Birdo (Red) use the Birdo's Egg as their special item, while Birdo (Blue) uses the Dash Ring, Birdo (Green) uses the Fire Flower, Birdo (Black) uses the Bob-omb Cannon, and Birdo (White) uses the Triple Mushrooms.

Vehicle gallery

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Her Turbo Birdo.

Mario Kart Wii

Her Standard Kart M.

Her Standard Bike M.

Her Classic Dragster.

Her Mach Bike.

Her Wild Wing.

Her Sugarscoot.

Her Super Blooper.

Her Zip Zip.

Her Daytripper.

Her Sneakster.

Her Sprinter.

Her Dolphin Dasher.

Staff Ghost Tracks

• Dry Dry Desert (GCN) (along with Yoshi)
• Yoshi Circuit (GCN) (along with Yoshi)
• Tour Los Angeles Laps (Switch 200cc) (Red)

Trivia!

• The pads of her feet are similar to Bowser Jr.'s. pads on his feet.
• Birdo is mentioned on the Sunshine Airport intercom.
• Despite not appearing in Mario Kart 7 or Mario Kart 8, several Birdos make cameo appearances in the audience. In earlier games before that, Birdos still appeared in the audience but these Birdos were blue.
• Birdos come in a variety of colors, like green, red, and even gray.
• Birdo could have been inspired by the Snowth, a creature in the song "Mahna Mahna" from The Muppets.
• Birdo is the only racer in Mario Kart Wii (not including the Miis) not to have any Staff Ghosts.

Gallery

Artwork of Birdo and Yoshi in the Turbo Yoshi in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Birdo and King Boo racing at Mushroom Bridge in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Artwork of Birdo with her Standard Kart M in Mario Kart Wii.

Birdo in her Sprinter.

Birdo on her Zip Zip.

Birdo's icon in Mario Kart Wii.

Birdo's icon in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Several Birdos in different colors with Yoshi at GCN Yoshi Circuit in Mario Kart Tour.