Man's beard so lush he turned it into a birdcage

Eric Brooks' beard is so thick and luscious he recently fashioned it into a fully functioning bird cage at a facial hair competition in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The 26-year-old Fort Collins, Colo. man hasn't shaved his face in four years and his beard now reaches to his nipples.

Brooks recently traveled to the New York to present the "Just Because" award at the National Beard & Moustache Championship on Nov. 7. At the championship in Brooklyn, he unveiled the show stopping birdcage design created by hairstylist Adam Maclay, Brooks told TODAY.com.

The cage, a prop made using prosthetic hair matched to Brooks' chestnut brown shade, was placed over Brooks' head and attached to his beard.

"You know, it's a new trend," Brooks said of beards, "but for a lot of people, they've been doing it for years."

Brooks became known in the bearding world after turning heads at a Colorado Avalanche game against the Washington Capitals in 2013. His shoulder-length beard — coiffed, sculpted and painted into an homage to the Capitals — caught the attention of news cameras. Soon he was a story.

Back then, beards were "a little less mainstream," Brooks said. Now he's seeing increased interest in the beard and mustache competitions he started frequenting in 2011. He's reading articles about the steady decline in sales of blades and razors (partly because of the popularity of beards and partly because of competition from services like the Dollar Shave Club).

Gallery: Wild beards



Because his six-week-old daughter Madison is constantly tugging on his beard, he has to keep it knotted and out of the way most of the time. But when it comes time for competition, he unleashes the beard. He recently competed in Boulder, where his beard design came in second place behind a former world champion from Germany.

Brooks is also working with the Rocky Mountain Beard and Moustache Club to set up a big national beard and moustache competition next September. There will be another local competition at Hodi's Half Note in Fort Collins the first week in June.

So stay tuned, but not clean shaven.