So say advocates of a proposed law to ban feeding the famous birds in city parks

Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, May 12, 2007
The wild parrots of Telegraph Hill were a little less ruffled on Friday after a San Francisco supervisors committee voted to prohibit the public feeding of parrots in city parks.

After hearing from bird lovers who complained that the world-famous flock of red-masked parakeets was being harmed by getting handouts in a park near their hillside perch, the committee voted to make it "unlawful to feed or offer food to any red-masked parakeet in any'' park in San Francisco.

The new rule was aimed at preventing parrot feeding in Ferry Park, the small patch of lawn at Drumm and Clay streets where the parrots have been getting handouts of sunflower seeds from dozens of human admirers for the past year or so.

Bird lovers say the parrots are harmed by relying on the handouts instead of fending for themselves, and are more susceptible to spreading and catching disease.

On Telegraph Hill, bird lovers who climbed the Filbert Street steps to view the parrots in their treetop perches said they supported any measure to protect the noisy, photogenic birds.

"They're movie stars,'' said Barbara Perrow, a visitor from New Haven, Conn., who had seen the popular 2003 documentary about the birds, "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.''

"It's fun to see them in person,'' she added. "And protecting them from feeding is a good idea. Obesity is a real problem in this country, and you have to start somewhere.''

On the old wooden staircase, dozens of parrot fans -- cameras in hand -- stood and stared as the birds preened, squawked, swooped and soared.

"It's a pity to have to make rules to deal with something that people ought to know through common sense,'' said Simon Woods, a visitor from Munich.

The proposed ordinance won preliminary approval after the Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee heard testimony Thursday from Mark Bittner, the one-time homeless man who befriended the birds for years and who was the subject of the documentary.

"They're wild birds, not pets,'' Bittner said. "They're not here for our pleasure, especially when our pleasure is putting the birds in danger.''

Judy Irving, producer of the film, told the committee that the Ferry Park feedings jeopardize the birds' survival.

"If they get to used to sunflower seeds, they may lose their adaptive ability to forage throughout the city,'' Irving said.

But one woman who said she fed the birds regularly at Ferry Park said a ban would be arbitrary and would not prevent residents from feeding the birds on private property.

The full board of supervisors will consider the proposed feeding ban at an upcoming meeting.

This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

SAN FRANCISCO / Wild parrots need wild food / So say advocates of a proposed law to ban feeding the famous birds in city parks