oscar-35 *Spoiler/plot- 2003, A large flock of non-native birds, Cherry-Headed Conures live in a district of San Francisco. A lone man becomes their benefactor and gets a special life.*Special Stars- Mark Bittner. Dir: Judy Irving *Theme- Sensitive natured people often become victims of their own interests to hide out.*Based on- Newspaper stories from San Francisco media.*Trivia/location/goofs- Documentary. Takes place on location in 'Telegraph Hill' near Coit Tower, North Beach neighborhood, San Francisco, Calif.*Emotion- A rather interesting movie exploring the relationship of a unemployed friendly sensitive musician that has taken care or adopted a flock of Cherry-headed Conure parrots from South America in his neighborhood. For over ten years, he has become their adopted benefactor and spokesperson. While doing this, he has put his life 'on-hold' and has become a reclusive person with little relationships and opportunities much like the parrots. While this is a nature lover's dream story, I could not help but wonder about the musician's emotional and development level in this situation. In the end, he begins a relationship with the female documentary producer of this film piece. Maybe that's the best karmic ending of them all concerned.

grover-9 Just saw the TV premier of this modestly-distributed movie and was delighted. Has anyone else noticed that the parrots really did more for Mark Bittner than he did for them? They changed his life in so many ways, and all for the better. There are many lessons to be learned from the movie, which is one of the few that left me both cheering and crying when it ended. I wish only the best for all, both human and avian, involved in its making.P. S. Those who previously submitted reviews to this site and saw the movie as an attempt to make Bittner appear a victim in any way certainly missed the point.

kayaugust The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill is the best DVD I have purchased so far! A generous bohemian named Mark Bittner befriends and offers sunflower seeds to a flock of Wild Parrots. Many of the parrots become tamer and respond to his generosity and to the care he provides when they become ill. At those times he nurses them back to health in his small home in San Francisco.The DVD docudrama has moments of joy, comedy and wonder. There are also times of sadness. In general it embraces the lives of a flock of wild cherry-headed conures where the stars are the flock of parrots and those who care about them.

intheaudience It has been rare to see this kind of innocent movie lift one up as much as this one did for me. I would place the movie in the same category as the March of the Penguins, except done with a much less polished style, which adds its own charm.It's a documentary about a simple man, who, because circumstances estranged him from mainstream society, is sort of forced to seek a much humbler and more simple means of connectedness, and in the end finds a much greater connectedness, i.e. with nature and life in general. He achieves a synergy with nature that is rare to achieve unless one is really in harmony with it, and it would be hard to do that with something as simple as wild birds coming up to one's backyard unless one has a lot of time, a certain amount of introspection, and a definite extroversion to nature, or i.e. inclination to get in synch or in touch with the nature that is host to the place where one lives. This nature is so often taken for granted or under-appreciated.It's a beautiful and simple movie that gets at what I think is a basic truth about our existence, i.e. our underlying connectedness, and is very uplifting.