Rating: 
Summary: A DIFFERENT WAY OF LIFE...AND THEN SOME
Review: The twists and turns of a person's life is just incredible and this book verifies that change is the name of the game. Mark was a hippie in the literal sense and took decades for him to decide what he was supposed to do in this life. He never had any money, yet would do odd jobs in his neighborhood on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco to provide food and sunflower seeds for the parrots in his neighborhood. He never had to pay rent and lived in a dilapidated house, but his loving nature shone through in what he did...and that was nurture a flock of parrots where he named most of them and grew to understand their personality and personal traits. He tells all in this book and a wonderful story it is. You learn the joy of freedom in Mark and the birds and his telling in a well written story. One great loss in his life was never finding a woman to love, but in the end he discovers his mate and he was taken completely by surprise. You will too, if you read this book. A joy for sure!
Rating: 
Summary: A tough read
Review: This about the author Mark Bittner who at 21 decides to be a rock and roll star while living in seattle but as this does not seem to pan out he feels that a change is do so he moves to San Francisco and play as a street musician for a while but as this seems to go nowhere he decides to be a writer.While he is trying to be a writer he also wanting to pursue and understanding of eastern religion things relating to confucius taoism and zen and kind of following life as it went with no real aim no job no permanent living conditions to the point of living on the streets and in a friends van.By the time he decides he needs a little more direction he is 38 and working as a caretaker ansd errand runner in return for room and board in Telegraph Hill area of San Francisco and this is were is relationship with the parrots takes off(Scientifically they cherry headed conure and blue headed conures). This book goes into great detail of these types of parrots and the parrot trade but i will be honest i try to read every book complete but i could not finish this book,it always felt like i was plodding through it and i know the old adage that you should not judge someone put i felt that the author should get a life there were many things and he should have been taking care of that he was continually putting off.
I personally thought this was not a very good book
Rating: 
Summary: Initially Charming, Ultimately Repetitive
Review: This book features a large cast of characters, most of whom are parrots. There are so many of them, and Bittner forges relationships with so many of them, that even though the birds have distinct personalities, I lost track of who was who after a while.
Also frustrating is Bittner's frustration with himself. He chooses to live on the fringes of society, in an attempt to follow a more spiritual path, but he periodically becomes disenchanted with meditation and communing with nature and loses sight of even his spiritual goals. I knew the book was supposed to include a human love interest, but she doesn't appear until nearly the end of the book. I wished she'd been introduced earlier, and that we were allowed to see more of Bittner's life with her, to provide a happy contrast to the frustration he experience through so much of the book.
The main attraction of the book is, of course, the birds, but they only remain charming for so long. After a while, Bittner's catalog of interactions begins to sound like the transcription of a bird-watcher's journal. I also began wondering just how wonderful his interactions with the birds were -- at times he just plain interfered with nature, and I'm not sure that's such a good thing.
I'm a sucker for an animal story, though, and Bittner's closeness to the flock is enviable. Though the book got overly-long and repetitive, I'd love to see the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: incredible story
Review: This is a must read for people who love parrots and freedom and love to study the connundrum of jobs/captive life. The author was ultimately "freed" by enslavement by the flock/project. Anybody can find natural and spiritual lessons in this wonderful book. Wild life isn't a picnic, and the quest for "freedom" can imprison the mind. Even those who live with companion parrots often fail to establish the rapport Mark Bittner achieved with a group of wild parrots.
Rating:
Summary: A WONDERFUL ACCOMPLISHMENT
Review: This is a must read for people who love parrots and freedom and love to study the connundrum of jobs/captive life. The author was ultimately "freed" by enslavement by the flock/project. Anybody can find natural and spiritual lessons in this wonderful book. Wild life isn't a picnic, and the quest for "freedom" can imprison the mind. Even those who live with companion parrots often fail to establish the rapport Mark Bittner achieved with a group of wild parrots.
Rating:
Summary: Color pictures are on website
Review: What a wonderful love story between a person and his parrots! I enjoyed reading the story of how he learned about parrots. The book has black and white pictures, but many color pictures of the parrots are on Mark's website, along with a story that illustrates the photo. While I would like to see color photos in the book, publishers don't always do as readers (and authors) would like! The book is a must-buy for bird-lovers!
Rating:
Summary: I know those parrots!
Review: When people from the Bay Area hoof it up Telegraph Hill in SF, they nearly always make the climb from the North Beach access points. It's steep as all get out, but it's not even slightly as steep as the Greenwich steps, which is the way people choose to descend from the famous hill. Rarely on those steps do I meet someone walking up - and when I do, I always notice what great calves they have.
Anyway, there are old cottages from probably the earthquake era situated along these steps, and in one of them lived the author of this delightful book, Mark Bittner. Once a down and out self-described "dharma bum," Bittner was given free lodging in return for caretaking one of the mansions higher on the hillside. Jobless and bored, he began spending his days making friends with the small flock of wild parrots who have made that side of Telegraph Hill their home. In the process, he found meaning in his own life for probably the first time. Now a celebrity, Bittner says "from being a homeless nobody, now I have a home, a girlfriend, a book, and a movie...it's hilarious!" He's become a SF personality and an expert on his parrots, cherry-headed and blue-crowned conures-escapees from a long-ago South American shipment.
This book is as delightful as Bittner himself, more informative than anything else on parrots that I've ever read, and more readable than some novels. It's a sure winner.
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