Buzz saws threaten home of Telegraph Hill parrots

Last Updated: Thursday, November 3, 2005 | 1:02 PM ET

CBC Arts

A flock of wild parrots that was the subject of the documentary The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill has had one of their perches chopped down and could lose two more.

• RELATED FEATURE: Animal logic: What's behind our need to make movies about critters?

The wild birds have delighted tourists and residents of San Francisco for years by nesting in a group of cypress trees on Telegraph Hill. The trees shield the birds from predators and shelter their young.

Mark Bittner and his charges on Telegraph Hill. (Photo Daniela Cossali / Courtesy Wild Parrots Film)

But the property owner has had one tree cut down and wants to cut the remaining two because of fears the branches could fall on passersby.

Mark Bittner, star of the Wild Parrots documentary, stepped in to stop work crews from cutting down the parrots' home. He stood in front of the 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," says Bittner, 53.

Bittner, who lives on the property and has written a book about the parrots, has spoken around the world about how the parrots helped him after a period of homelessness.

The lime-green parrots, native to South America, were likely imported as pets but escaped to settle on Telegraph Hill.

In 2003, filmmaker Judy Irving told their story, making them international celebrities.

Bittner says the flock had been scared away by the saws, but had returned to nearby trees on Wednesday.