Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill Migrating to the ‘Burbs

We saw this item in yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle, and knew we’d have to post it here for posterity. There’s news about the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (the birds themselves, not the film); the flocks are migrating slowly to other parts of the Bay Area, including one group occupying the sleepy town of Brisbane, which lies between San Francisco International Airport and the city itself.

Reporter Carolyn Jones describes the noisy flock: “The birds squawk and swoop along the mountainside like a gang of thrill-seeking teenagers, periodically alighting on telephone wires or gorging themselves on cherry blossoms. It’s as if sleepy, tucked-away Brisbane has been taken over by green monkeys.”

Mark Bittner, who was featured in the film and wrote the best-selling book of the same name, says the birds are probably moving in search of food. Bittner no longer feeds the birds, although he still lives on Telegraph Hill. “All I care about is that they stay wild and free,” he told Jones.

We caught up with Mark and his wife Judy Irving (the director of the film) last year, and they took questions from viewers. He’s at work on another book, and Judy is in the midst of another film.