Movie Review - The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

We have finally seen a movie that I can whole-heartedly recommend! This was a great film. It is a documentary about a man who spent about 10 years of his life befriending and studying a flock of wild parrots that live near Coit Tower in San Francisco. The Netflix description of the movie did not do it justice. It describes the man, Mark Bittner, as a "bohemian St. Francis of Assisi" - an eccentric searching for meaning in life. In reality, I didn't think that Mr. Bittner seemed that eccentric or bohemian. However, he did become fascinated with these birds and basically adopt a full time job of observing them. This was in spite of the fact that no one was paying him and he could find no one else interested in his research.

No one is sure what the origin is of the wild flocks of parrots that live in SF (there are two). Somehow they escaped from captivity and have been propagating and doing quite well in the city. What surprised me about the film was how studious it was. Mark Bittner did his homework over the years, finding out more and more about the parrot social network, behavior and where they likely came from. In an interview with a zoo-keeper, we find out that not a lot is known about these topics because it is so hard to study parrots in their natural habitat. Bittner has maintained contact with this zookeeper over the years to ask him questions about the observations he makes.

And unlike Timothy Treadwell, who spent his years studying grizzly bears in Alaska and was profiled in the movie Grizzly Man, Bittner kept his role in perspective. He interfered in the flock very rarely, only when there was a bird that was severely injured or ill and then released them back to the flock if they were able. He was able to accept the natural cycle of life and death that is inherent nature. All in all, it was a very informative film about a fascinating group of birds and a very interesting and intelligent man.