Wild Parrots DVD: Double-Disc Collector's Edition

Disc One

 

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: The feature film (16mm full frame). 83:00

 

The Movie Trailer: Shadow Distribution's popular theatrical trailer. 2:09

 

Babies: Very young parrots play on branches and telephone lines. 3:29

 

The Display: A bonded parrot pair do a strange dervish-type dance, of interest to ornithologists because it shows parrot behavior in the wild, but it's also very funny. :36

 

Urban Legends: Two more legends (there are nine in the movie) about how the parrots escaped to freedom in San Francisco. 2:04

 

Ashley's Release: Mark releases a parrot into the wild flock, which is technically illegal...but she came from the flock originally, so back to the flock she goes. 2:19

 

Theo: A tiny, light-blue, escaped parakeet leads the entire flock, flying wild and free. 1:16

 

Flock Origins: The woman who fed the very first pair of cherry heads, and who saw Connor join them, tells the story of her connection to the parrots several years before Mark started feeding them. 14:14

 

Juveniles: One-year-old birds play and squabble on a lamppost in downtown San Francisco. 1:31

 

Homage to Connor: Connor is the avian "star," the only blue-crowned conure in the flock. Here is his life story from Argentina to San Francisco, and in a surprising twist, new, updated information about his death. 11:54

 

Mingus at the Oasis: Mark visits Mingus, the “Doctor Jekyll/Mr. Hyde” parrot, in Arizona, and brings his guitar along. After more than five years apart, does Mingus remember? Will he dance to Mark's playing? The answer is here. 8:08

 

Music Video: Dogen, Connor, and Tupelo, a song written and performed by Roberta Fabiano, lead singer and guitarist for the Peter Duchin Orchestra, is accompanied by visuals edited by Mark Bittner from his home movies. 4:14

 

Home Movies: Mark Bittner shot six hours of Hi-8 footage of his life with the parrots several years before the documentary feature was made. Many of the birds in his home movies, such as Dogen, his favorite, appear in Mark's book but not in the documentary. Here is half an hour of the best footage, shot, edited, and narrated by Mark Bittner. 28:15

 

Flock Update: Mark and Judy are back on Telegraph Hill, and Mark is feeding the wild parrots again, including Olive and Pushkin, Fanny, Erica, and Scrapper. The flock has grown and is thriving. 6:58

 

California Quail: A short film about San Francisco's official native bird. 3:08

 

 

Disc Two

 

New Flock Update: How the wild parrots have expanded their range and joined the culture of San Francisco via photography, painting, costumes, posters, cartoons, cards, cutouts, and even dentistry...! 6:25

 

Please Don't Feed the Birds: Why, ironically, Mark asked for a city ordinance banning parrot feeding in city parks, and how the ban affected his own life. 15:32

 

Mark and Judy Update: Judy never wanted to get married; Mark always did. What happened as a result of a Humane Society gaffe on national television... 10:38

 

Parrot Rescue: Introductions to the 4 parrots living in Mark and Judy's house, and to Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue, a local nonprofit that cares for sick and injured wild parrots in San Francisco. 5:51

 

Erica and Russell (Out-take): Meet Erica, the “Eve” of the wild parrot flock, and her young mate Russell at their eucalyptus nest-hole, with their baby eager to fledge. 2:52

 

Ace in the Hole (Out-take): “Ace” is a double hybrid, a brand new San Francisco breed of parrot. This is a celebration of that new species...2:06

Behind the Scenes (Out-take): Sometimes the parrots just won't cooperate; and sometimes the director and the “star” have a “failure to communicate.” 3:54

 

Terra Interview: Lifeonterra.com interviewed Mark and Judy about the philosophy underlying the film: “finding nature, right where you are...” To view on line, click here. 8:35

 

Music Video: Ballad of the Brooklyn Parrots. Funny music video by Steve Baldwin starring wild Quaker parrots in Brooklyn. 2:12

 

Parrots and Power Poles: Quaker parrots on the East Coast get themselves into trouble by building nests on power poles. Alison Evans-Fragale of Edgewater, NJ has a plan to save them from extermination by utility companies. 8:26

 

The Parrot Trade: Mark talks with Jamie Gilardi from the World Parrot Trust about recent successes, including the European Union's wild parrot import ban, and a startling new discovery about Sun Conures in the wild. 4:38

 

Strictly for Parrots

 

(Shots of wild parrots with music and sound effects but no narration.)

• LA Amazons: Green-cheeked Amazons in Orange County, southern California: pure parrots in the wild, for pet parrots and their caretakers. 8:08
• Parrots Around the World: Excerpts from the popular World Parrot Trust video, Pollyvision: wild parrots in Australia, Africa, and South America, with music and sound effects but no narration, for pet parrots and their caretakers. 20:06

 

Judy's New Documentaries

(These films were produced independently of the Collector's Edition. They are included as 2 additional “Extras.”)

 

Christmas at the Bait Shop: Keith Fraser, a bait shop owner, introduces us to his avian friends: Willie, a snowy egret, Nasty, a great blue heron, and his favorite, a one-legged gull named Ahab. (This is a good “short” to accompany Wild Parrots.) You can see it for free on YouTube by clicking here. 5:21

19 Arrests, No Convictions: Portrait of an Italian-American bar owner with a fishy night life who redeems himself as an open-water swimmer, “escaping” from Alcatraz to the mainland. George Farnsworth, like Mark Bittner, is a unique San Francisco character who makes great use of the city's environment. 29:40