This book was very interesting to me. I recommend it for anyone that enjoys birds. It also took me back many years when I use to live in N. California and visited San Francisco. Makes me want to visit again soon. I loved the author's perspective on the birds and life in general.
An engaging book that tells the story in book form (vs. DVD) about Mark Bittner's relationship with the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. It goes into more detail than the movie. It's inspirational, charming, and at times sad. The section of the book on Tupelo made me cry as it was very touching. Bless you Mark Bittner. If it weren't for you, I never would have experienced those wonderful parrots that you shared with the world by inviting us into your home so that we can learn about them. You get to know each of the parrots' personalities. Some of them are immensely amusing. Maybe I'm just a bird lover. However, it is still a terrible tragedy that these birds are taken from their ancestral home, captured and sold on the market. Read the book, see the movie and listen to the music CD from the movie.
Incredible real life field work studying parrots
I've seen the DVD and read the book. I find the criticism of Mark Bittner's lifestyle by other reviewers to be obtuse. The author spent over a decade of his life observing the day to day movements and behaviors of a flock of wild birds. He obviously could not have had any form of conventional employment to be able to compile thousands of pages of notes observing these animals. He writes of himself as a "dharma bum" but this work is in the tradition of 19th century natural philosophers whose entire lives were about doing their field work. The work he did on the parrots of Telegraph Hill is easily a PhD thesis in ornithology. It's almost an "ethnograpy" of this group of non-native birds of San Francisco that examines the dynamics and interrelationships of the flock over a decade in the way that Dian Fossey's work gave us insights into the social structure of gorillas or Jane Goodall did groundbreaking work on chimpanzees. As far as I know, no other researcher has studied a flock of any species of wild birds as closely or as long as Mr. Bittner has.
I was charmed by the book and the DVD. I have an interest in birds and there are few books that describe the lives of birds that are not kept as pets or livestock. This book is an invaluable addition to the literature on birds.
the wild parrots of telegraph hill
very in depth understaning of the habits and personality of the birds..the author was really into the experience
Special
This is a truly special book. One with a beautiful, touching story. Read it, and appreciate it for all that it has to offer.
