Following on from parv's theme of using &, other operators work as well, with varying degrees of uglyness:

$ref =  { BIRD.'' => 'Valery' };

$ref =  { BIRD x 1 => 'Valery' };

$ref =  { ::BIRD => 'Valery' };
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Although I have to say I rather like the last one myself (and BIRD x 1 is fun)
update: BTW, :: does not appear to ignore the prototype.
update 2: Corrected parv's id.