Review: The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2004)

THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

CAPSULE: The Birdman of Telegraph Hill is Mark Bittner. A failed street
musician and a self-proclaimed dharma bum, Bittner has set himself up as an
almost full-time companion to the local flock of feral parrots. In the course
of this film we get to know Bittner and the birds. Bittner's stories give the
birds real personalities. Rating: low +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10

How engaging can a film be that is a documentary about a flock of feral parrots
living in San Francisco? Surprisingly, THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL
proves to be intelligent and touching. It shows how strong and involving a
documentary can be about a subject that may sound only of marginal interest.
It is a film that has the power to completely change what the viewer thinks of
birds. The parrots of Telegraph Hill are really conures. A conure, depending
on whom you ask is either a small parrot or a large parakeet. There is a flock
of about 45 of them living in San Francisco on Telegraph Hill. They are a
particular breed, cherry-headed conures, and they have a green plumage except
around the face where they are a very bright red. And for a while, there was
one man who was the world expert on this flock of conures and lived in close
proximity to them.

Mark Bittner came to San Francisco as an aspiring writer, poet, singer, and
songwriter. Most things he tried did not work out. Bittner himself realized
that all the writers he liked came to bad ends. After an unsuccessful stint as
a street musician he discovered and became fascinated (or obsessed) with the
parrot flock on Telegraph Hill. There are many local legends as to where the
parrots came from, but nobody knows for sure. They were probably born wild,
were captured by the pet industry and taken as pets, and then escaped somehow.
Bittner says that there are about forty-five of them and he has a name for each
bird. Connor found an unoccupied house and took up uninvited residence. The
owners of the house found Bittner living there, but took much the same attitude
of fascination toward him that he took toward the parrots. Then all of
Bittner's time was spent caring for and getting to know the birds, each of
which he can distinguish by sight and each with a noticeably different
personality. And Bittner returned to writing. His articles about the birds
have made him an internationally known authority. He is the author of THE WILD
PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL.

One learns through the films a little of the lives of the birds. Connor, who
was Mark's personal favorite, was a loner who could not win a mate, probably
because he was really a blue-crowned conure living among cherry-headeds. As a
sort of outcast himself Connor protects other outcasts from the flock. It
seems a very admirable reaction. We learn something of Connor and of some of
the birds, particularly the surprisingly poignant story of Tupelo. We learn
something of how the parrots protect themselves from their chief predators, the
hawks.

The film is released at a time when avian intelligence is a very topical
subject. The idea that birds' brains are simple is giving way to increasing
respect. Last year a crow was observed to actually forge a tool to solve a
problem. This week I read an article that said that by some measures birds
have been seen to show intelligence beyond that of non-human apes. There are
birds, notably crows and parrots, that are now thought to rival chimpanzees for
intelligence. One can tell a bird is from the parrot family because of the
characteristic foot. A parrot- family bird can be recognized an 'X' for a foot
with two toes going forward and two going backward. Bittner finds the birds to
be very emotional animals, considered by some to be a controversial
observation. Other issues concerning the birds is if they should be allowed to
stay in the city or removed because they are a non-native and invasive species.

THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL looks at the twin paradoxes of the presence
of the birds and the presence of the man who studies them. Both seem to have
come uninvited and neither seems to have much means of support, but both have
become part of the scene of this pleasant street in a pleasant city.

Admittedly I have an interest in animal and particularly bird intelligence, but
I find this amiable documentary well worth seeing. I rate it a low +2 on the -4
to +4 scale or 7/10.

Mark R. Leeper
mleeper RemoveThis @optonline.net
Copyright 2005 Mark R. Leeper

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X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1359371
X-RT-TitleID: 10004840
X-RT-AuthorID: 1309
X-RT-RatingText: 7/10