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| The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill | 
| Actor: Mark Bittner
Studio: DOCURAMA
Category: DVD
List Price: $26.95
Buy Used: $10.44
You Save: $16.51 (61%)
New (41) from $12.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  153 reviews
Sales Rank: 3793
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Surround Sound
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Running Time: 83 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: NVGD9693D
ISBN: 0767085973
UPC: 767685969335
EAN: 9780767085977
ASIN: B000BB1534
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Release Date: December 26, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Item in very good condition, rental overstock, may or may not include insert and/or stickers, 100% guaranteed.
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| Customer Reviews:
 For the Love of Birds January 18, 2006
21 out of 22 found this review helpful
This gentle documentary features Mark Bittner, an aging hippy and once-musician living in San Francisco, and the birds he loves, a flock of now-wild and breeding cherry-headed conures (and a few hangers-on) who reside in the city's trees. Viewers who don't have experience with the intelligence and antics of the parrot family might approach this film the way one of the tourists does at the beginning when he says, "If they have names, then they can't be wild." Viewers will soon understand the unique niche these parrots have forged for themselves in the urban environment. Non-native and yet able to find food because of imported landscape plants, these birds swoop over the hills in a raucous flock and have become as much a part of San Francisco as the more numerous pigeons.
Filmmaker Judy Irving captures Bittner's need to do right by the parrots with loving photography and soft-spoken questions. When she asks her most pointed question, "What is the difference between you and the pigeon lady?", Bittner pauses for several beats before finally answering, with some pain, "I don't know." But we do know by then. His feeding the birds might not be any different but his curiosity about them and his drive to protect them distinguishes him. Irving has managed to portray, through Bittner's interactions and thoughts about "his" flock, the individuality of the birds: Mingus, an escaped conure who would rather live inside with Bittner than outside; Connor, the lonely blue-headed conure who inhabits the fringes of the cherry-headed society but who values his freedom over companionship; little nerve-damaged Sophie whose poignant devotion to her mate Picasso is heart-breaking; and, most touching of all, the cripple Tupelo who adores her trips into the garden while cradled in Bittner's hands. When a city councilman reveals that some environmentalists wanted the birds captured and exterminated since they are considered invaders, viewers will be horrified since, unlike the environmentalists, they have come to know and love these birds.
Irving provides context for the man/bird relationship through interviews with a lorikeet zookeeper at the San Francisco zoo, the locals who have their own theories about how the flock came to be, politicians, and tourists. This film is not a hard-hitting documentary since it fails to fully explore the underlying conditions and politics of the situation. Instead, it is a tribute to Bittner and the individual parrots he adopts as his friends. Viewers who cannot get enough of the conures will be delighted with the DVD extras, several of which follow up on events.
The film shows how right Bittner's fatalistic sixties' philosophy can be: if something doesn't work out, then it wasn't meant to be. You just have to wait for the right calling to come along. In Bittner's case, he has become a champion not only of these conures but of animal right/intelligence in general. -- Debbie Lee Wesselmann
Wild Parrots are for the Birds! January 16, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Beautiful movie; every bird lover, especially exotic bird lovers will be moved...thrilling to see wild parrots flying free in San Francisco....The music video included as an extra, with Roberta Fabiano performing the song she wrote about 3 of the birds in the story is amazing...worth the price of the DVD alone! "Dogen, Connor and Tupelo" is a song that can stand on its own...but once you've seen the movie...or if you share your home with a parrot, this song won't leave you!
 The Wild Parrots Of Telegraph Hill January 15, 2006
10 out of 59 found this review helpful
I really liked the footage and observations in this film. That being said, everything else was so annoying, i wanted to hit myself in the head the entire time. Mark really needs to get a job, and Judy's romantic agenda completely baffled me and by the end of the movie I was in hysterics. Especially after the visit to the wierdos who have a house full of "special needs" birds. Birds are remarkable. Can't say the same for San Francisco.
Intelligent and moving film. January 9, 2006
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
I was looking forward to seeing this movie for some time now, but could not because Wild Parrots did not play in the area I live in. Thankfully, it finally came out on DVD just recently! And today this wonderful film exceeded my expecations. Mark Bittner and the birds he befriended, fed and studied make for a fantastic subject of a truly moving documentary. I learned so much and was just simply fascinated with his insight on the birds and their relationships with him and with each other within the flock. The colors of the birds was incredibly captured as was the city of San Francisco and Telegraph Hill. I am a bird lover, but do not own a bird or keep one in a cage. I hope that people will see this movie and think about the living soul of all creatures and be as touched as I was with what Mark and Judy had to say with such elegant simplicity and care.
It's not JUST about the parrots! January 4, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
What a wonderful film! There are a host of great characters (most of them avian), however, the revelation here is that through his dedication to and love for these birds, Mr. Bittner reaps even greater rewards. Here is a captivating tale of wildlife in an urban setting, and also of the lessons humanity can learn from the other species with whom we share the world.
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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