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The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill by Mark Bittner, Harmony Books, $22, ISBN 0609610554 Reviewed by Adrian Barnett

SAN Francisco is famous for many things but not, until now, for its wild parrots. They are not native species; the inhabitants of the US have killed both of those. Instead, like many immigrants before them, the city鈥檚 red-headed and blue-crowned conures, amazons, parakeets and budgerigars are transplanted individuals who have made their way in this new land and, in many cases, prospered.

In The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill Mark Bittner tells how he, a former musician on a 20-year spiritual quest for self-awareness 鈥� this is San Francisco 鈥� meets a mixed flock of parrots, feeds them, earns their trust and over three years learns the inner-most details of their lives. The book is a return to the nearly forgotten Visitors at My Bird Table format, but without its sentimentality.

Paralleling the acutely observed dynamics of the flock are the internal politics of Bittner鈥檚 own community. As a person who has lived rough and survives on odd-jobs, Bittner could photograph the birds only by borrowing cameras and saving for film; sunflower seed was bartered for; and the book was written on a donated computer, his first ever.

It all sounds quite Disney, but what makes it work so well is Bittner鈥檚 unselfconscious style and fascination with interpersonal dynamics, both human and avian. Clearly a very empathetic person, primed by street survival and spirituality to read people鈥檚 emotions, Bittner鈥檚 observations of the flock members, their lives and quirks transcends the inherent anthropomorphism of his approach and simply underlines how individually variable wild birds can be.

It may cause a few 鈥渉arrumps鈥� among the scientific community, but this is a wonderful and charming tale of the urban survival of bird and human.