Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill Threatened With Homelessness

The best-selling book and documentary film "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" is a story of love and redemption, and it has given the neighborhood of Telegraph Hill a heart and soul. The story centers around a flock of about 200 lime-green conures, parrots that are native to South America, who took up residence in three cypress trees on a hill overlooking San Francisco Bay. No one knows where the parrots came from, but Mark Bittner wrote the book telling their story. Bittner, 53, travels the world speaking about how the birds helped him turn his life around after a period of homelessness, and gave him the will to live by giving him a purpose—taking care of them.

The bright green and red birds have delighted tourists and residents of Telegraph Hill for years, ever since Bittner first encountered them in 1993 when he served as the caretaker of the land where they live. It is believed that the flock of parrots started with just two or three birds that were likely imported before quarantines, and were either released or escaped from their owners. The evergreen cypress trees where they roost have shielded the birds from predators and sheltered their young, but the owner of the land where the cypresses stand believes the trees pose a hazard, and he wants them removed. Property owner John Cowen fears the trees could fall on someone walking by or cause damage to a nearby home.

When a tree-cutting crew showed up last week to take down the three cypresses, they were successful in cutting down one before Bittner planted himself between them and the remaining two trees and refused to move. "I would be a horrible human being if I wasn't helping my friends out, and they are my friends," Bittner said as he stood outside his cabin near the lone cypress stump and the surviving pair of trees. The contractors backed off and waited as Bittner tried to reach a compromise with the property owner who had hired them. The flock was nowhere to be seen, having been scared away by the howling of chain saws. "They were spooked. They took off and haven't come back," Bittner said.

The wild parrots of Telegraph Hill were only local celebrities until they became movie stars, and now tourists flock to the neighborhood specifically to see the birds. If Cowen insists on chopping down the trees they call home, instead of having the trees repaired, then the heart and soul of Telegraph Hill will forever be damaged as well. Cowen says that he will replant the trees if they are cut, but how long would it take them to grow big enough for the parrots to live in? And where are the parrots to go in the meantime?

Bittner and his partner, Judy Irving, who produced the documentary about the parrots, have been negotiating with Cowen for nearly four months about what should be done with the trees. Cowen told the San Francisco Examiner that the trees are dropping limbs, putting pedestrians at risk on the hills below. "They've got rot, they've got termites," Cowen said. Bittner agreed that the one tree that was cut down should go, but he believes the other two cypresses should be repaired, not cut down. Another neighbor, Stan Hayes, has offered to pay for pruning the trees, and has even offered to help pay for extra insurance to keep the trees standing. "We can't let the trees go without a fight. They are so important to the character of this neighborhood—and these parrots are part of the heart and soul of Telegraph Hill," he said.