The Wild Parrots of Telegraph

[phjim]

From Judy Irving: Just wanted to let you know that my film, "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill," is now in national theatrical release and is opening in several Florida cities in May and June. See http://www.wildparrotsfilm.com/ for info about the film and updated theater listings. (It will screen in over 300 cities before the DVD is released in early 2006.)

"Wild Parrots" is a nonfiction feature film about a Bohemian St. Francis and his remarkable relationship with a flock of wild cherry-headed conures in San Francisco. Mark Bittner, a homeless street musician, falls in with the flock as he searches for meaning in life, unaware that the wild parrots will bring him everything he needs.

[AlbatrossFlyer]

3 of the parrots were re-located to an AZ bird sanctuary yesterday.

[RinglingRingling]

3 of the parrots were re-located to an AZ bird sanctuary yesterday.

that's what they get for testifying against the mynah bird in open court...

[AlbatrossFlyer]

AZ Republic, 17 May 2005

SANCTUARY FOR THE WINGED
FOUNDER TAKES IN BIRDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Linda Helser, The Arizona Republic

Three crippled parrots who became stars in a best-selling book and documentary film were on the brink of abandonment. Mark Bittner discovered Mingus, Andy, and Yosemite around 1990 in San Francisco floundering among a wild flock of mostly cherry-headed conures, a common parrot breed. He took them in and documented his experiences in the The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. But when Bittner, 53, lost his job as caretaker of a small cottage on the city's Telegraph Hill in 1999, the gimpy trio of conures lost their home, too.

Miles away in Phoenix, it was the Oasis Sanctuary and Sybil Erden, who came to their rescue. "You're going to live in an oasis for parrots," a tearful Bittner said in the documentary, filmed in 1999, and turned them over to Erden. It wasn't long after they arrived at the retreat for exotic birds with special needs that Erden, founder and director of the sanctuary, made a move of her own. "We had outgrown my back yard," said Erden, 54, a Phoenix artist and writer active in bird rescue groups. She had, established her sanctuary for 68 birds on her acre-sized property near 40th Street and Monte Vista in 1997. In September 2000, after two years of searching for the perfect property, Erden and Associate Director T.J. Georgitso moved several hundred birds from Phoenix to a 72-acre former pecan orchard about 40 minutes outside of Benson. Now filled with 400 exotic birds, including everything from small parakeets and cockatiels to much larger amazons, cockatoos and macaws, the remote sanctuary cares for those who are either unable to care for themselves or have been given up by their owners for a variety of reasons. "People don't know what they're getting into," said Erden, who takes in 40 to 50 birds a year.

Birds are hard-wired to live in flocks and fly, two things they are typically denied when purchased as a pet. The isolation and confinement can bring out undesirable behaviors such as loud and long screeching, aggressiveness, destructiveness, self-plucking of feathers and self-mutilation. Even well behaved and amenable birds can be a problem when they outlive their owners. "Conures can live 18 to 25 years, cockatoos are expected to live between 40 to 60 years of age, amazons have been known to live into their 80s and the larger macaws can also live into their 60s," said Erden, who advocates making provisions for a parrot in a will. "Two of our scarlet macaws lived to be 72 and 79 years of age respectively." Problem parrots tend to be passed from unsuspecting owner to unsuspecting owner or many are euthanized. Others escape or are deliberately released into the wild by their frustrated owners. Wild flocks of formerly owned birds, such as the San Francisco one fed by Bittner, are also found in metro Phoenix. Central Phoenix and Moon Valley are home to flocks of lovebirds, while conures and quaker parrots congregate around the Indian Bend Wash in Scottsdale, according to Erden. At Oasis, it seems every bird has a story. There's Ellie the cockatoo, who was attacked by a raccoon and lost a wing. Or Billy, the yellow-naped amazon, who neurotically carries on one-sided phone conversations. Ernest, the club-footed red-headed amazon is there, too, along with Mister Beeker, the quaker parrot with a broken jaw. He was confiscated by the government while living with 68 other birds in a Wisconsin basement.

Or Brody, the African gray who is dying of cancer but kept comfortable inside the sanctuary's hospital trailer, and Carly, the sweet blue and gold macaw who was given up because she was no longer beautiful after plucking out nearly all of her feathers. Unlike their former owners, once Erden takes on one of her charges, it's a lifetime commitment. "We do not adopt them out or breed them, we just care for them," she said. "What we're dealing with for the most part is an aging population of parrots who to a great extent were made neurotic by living in isolation," Erden said. And it's expensive, particularly for a tax-exempt 501(c) organization that depends entirely on contributions and donations and takes on 40 to 50 new birds each year. It takes six full-time and two part-time paid staff members who live on site to care for the birds, working with an annual budget of $250,000. Because of the sanctuary's temperate climate, most of the birds are able to live outdoors in a series of roomy cages, often doubled up for companionship. Nearby, a giant 800-square-foot "free-flight" aviary was built in 2003 for the small birds such as parakeets and cockatiels.
Another 1,600-square-foot "free-flight" enclosure for African gray parrots is under construction. Plucked birds and the elderly, who might be too susceptible to the cold, reside in a 1,300-square-foot enclosed building that includes a central out-of-cage play area. A dozen or so chickens and eight ducks roam freely, while two donkeys, three horses, five cows, five goats, two sheep and scores of cats and dogs live more contained lives behind fences or doors. "How can I turn away something when they say they're going to put it down if I don't take it?" Erden said as she cuddled with a 3-week-old black and brown lamb. It's that sort of compassion that awes Gilbert veterinarian Todd Driggers, 35, who tends to her flock when necessary. "She has massive animal care down to a science, and she's so passionate about their care and educating the public on the long-term ramifications of bird ownership," he said. "I think she probably knows about 75 percent of their names, too." Bittner will see for himself in October when he travels from San Francisco to visit his former charges for the first time at the Arizona sanctuary, bringing along one more disabled conure. "I don't know if Mingus will remember me," he mused.

For the birds ... The Oasis Sanctuary was the first life-care facility for birds to be granted non-profit status under the income-tax code and is accredited by both the American Sanctuary Association and the Association of Sanctuaries. To contact the business office in Phoenix, call (602) 863-1543. An avian lost-and-found service operated by the sanctuary can be contacted by calling (480) 946-4955. To contact the sanctuary near Benson, call 1-(520)-212-4737 or visit www.the-oasis.org. Visitors are welcome at the sanctuary by appointment only.

[RinglingRingling]

I was only kidding about the testimony...

[AlbatrossFlyer]

I was only kidding about the testimony...

Or Billy, the yellow-naped amazon, who neurotically carries on one-sided phone conversations.

[RinglingRingling]

I was only kidding about the testimony...

Or Billy, the yellow-naped amazon, who neurotically carries on one-sided phone conversations.

HEY!!! I swear there is usually someone on the other end of the phone when I have a conversation..

[Tropically Challenged]

Am I the only Parrot Head who could care less about the bird?

[MikeInNOLA]

Am I the only Parrot Head who could care less about the bird?

NOPE!

[conched]

Have any of you seen the movie? Is it worth driving over two hours to see?

[bravedave]

3 of the parrots were re-located to an AZ bird sanctuary yesterday.

that's what they get for testifying against the mynah bird in open court...

I told you they were gonna sing.

[ragtopW]

Have any of you seen the movie? Is it worth driving over two hours to see?

We won't get it untill July I can let you know
I can walk/bike to the Theater and they sell beer!!!!