Urgent: Help Keep SF's Wild Parrots Wild! Email SF Supes Now to Support Feeding Ban

The health, welfare and safety of the beloved wild parrots of Telegraph Hill are now threatened by a group of misguided bird lovers who have taken to feeding the parrots in a downtown San Francisco park. The birds are rapidly becoming assimilated to direct interaction with human beings, and many will now feed directly from any stranger's hand. While it is bad enough that tameness is quickly turning the parrots from a flock of wild birds into a mere tourist attraction, it also makes them vulnerable to numerous threats, ranging from unsustainable population growth to outright abduction.

Please take action today to help the parrots!

On Tuesday, May 22nd, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is going to vote on a proposal that would prohibit the feeding of parrots in San Francisco 's parks. Please email the Supervisors in your own words BY MONDAY, MAY 21st urging them to pass this law to protect the flock from current and impending dangers.

You can get contact information for all of the Supervisors at http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_index.asp?id=7271 (note that you don't need to contact Sean Elsbernd, as he is already fully on board). If you live in San Francisco, be sure to identify yourself as a property owner or renter, and mention any particular organizations you represent or are a member of. If you live in San Francisco, also be sure to state that you are a constituent and a voter as well when writing to the Supervisor who represents your district.



BACKGROUND:

In general, fame has been good to the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill. The eponymous film that made them celebrities has certainly won them many advocates around the world, and was instrumental in convincing the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to recently pass an ordinance protecting their habitat on the Greenwich Steps ( http://animalrighter.blogspot.com/2007/03/san-francisco-protects-wild-parrots.html ). Unfortunately, their notoriety is now putting their health, welfare and survival in jeopardy, as the wild parrots are quickly becoming tame as a result of being fed by human beings.

What, you might ask, could be the harm in people feeding wild birds? In fact, didn't Mark Bittner model this very behavior in the film itself? Why then should he be allowed to have all the fun, and then go around ordering others to do what he says, not what he does?

Bittner has earned the right to give such advice because he's spent more than a decade studying the flock, and probably knows more about these particular birds than anyone else in the world. He has always taken care to feed them only outside of his home on the Greenwich Steps, and not to let anyone else get too close to ensure that the flock remained wild and wary of humans, some of whom might do them accidental or intentional harm.

Several months ago, against Bittner's express warnings, a certain man started feeding the wild parrots in a downtown park. Following this individual's example, a small group of people has lately been hand-feeding the parrots so that now they land on just about any stranger's hand, whether friend or foe, making them easy targets for unscrupulous individuals bent on abducting them. This is believed to have already happened at least once, and is likely to be repeated so long as the flock remains habituated to people.

Acculturation to humans poses other potential threats to the flock, as well. For example:

- Hand-feeding teaches birds to be dependent on humans for sustenance, and removes their incentive to forage for wild-growing foods like berries and flower blossoms. An unbalanced diet consisting of too many seeds can also cause the parrots long-term liver damage.

- Having unnatural access to large amounts of free seed could cause the flock to overbreed and grow their numbers beyond what San Francisco's urban habitat can support. This could precipitate a population crash or impact the ecological balance that now exists between parrots and native bird species. Increased noise and bird droppings could also eventually foment a backlash from annoyed residents calling for their removal or even extermination.

- Getting too close to wild birds can put people in danger. Anyone who's ever been bitten by a parrot knows that their powerful jaws and pointed beak can deliver a bite that is extremely painful. This could leave the city open to lawsuits from people who are bitten for whatever reason while feeding the birds. Parrots can also harbor a communicable disease which causes worms to grow in the eyes and brain. This virus can be transmitted to humans through direct contact.

Like many people around the world, I have a personal affinity for our city's wild parrots. I have therefore taken a special interest in advocating on behalf of these unique birds over the last year and a half or so. Based on what I have learned, I believe i t is crucial for the city do whatever is necessary to reverse this trend now, before the situation worsens. I hope you will join me, Mark Bittner, filmmaker Judy Irving and other parrot advocates in this effort. Please urge the Board of Supervisors to pass the proposed law to protect the flock from current and impending dangers.