[7]

Judy Irving chronicles the lives of an underemployed street musician, Mark Bittner, and a flock of wild cherry-headed parrots he observes and sometimes cares for in a hilly neighborhood of San Francisco. Bird lovers will enjoy getting to know some of the flock, including its lone blue-headed conure, Connor, who protects the weak and infirm in spite of being under-appreciated by all the red-heads around him. The film offers many theories as to how the flock got started so far from their native South America, with great evidence pointing to many of the birds being abandoned pets. Some may argue that Bittner anthropomorphizes the birds too much, and Irving wisely addresses the matter in the final minutes. I side with the filmmaker and her subject: the birds fear death, illness, and loneliness the same as we do. Bittner’s assessments are well supported by Irving’s footage. While there is no animal cruelty in the film, animal lovers are warned: you will need hankies to get through the movie.