Mark Bittner, the man who became synonymous with San Francisco’s wild parrots, passed away on March 1 at age 74. His legacy lives on through the 2005 documentary “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill”, which introduced the city’s colorful flock to the world and became a cultural touchstone for Bay Area residents.

Bittner’s story is quintessentially San Francisco. For roughly 25 years, he lived rent-free in a modest cottage off the Greenwich Steps on Telegraph Hill, spending his days getting to know and naming the approximately 45 red-crowned conures that populated the neighborhood. He had no traditional job, but he had something more valuable: time. That time allowed him to develop an incredibly deep connection with the birds, feeding them sunflowers and observing their behaviors with genuine care.

Filmmaker Judy Irving first encountered Bittner in 1998 while researching a documentary. Struck by his dedication and unconventional lifestyle, she began filming him and his feathered companions. The resulting four-year project, drawn from 36 hours of footage, became a meditation on nature, solitude, and human connection. When “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill” hit theaters in 2005, it resonated with audiences everywhere. The intimate documentary eventually grossed $3 million and became the highest-rated program on public television in 2007.

What’s particularly interesting is how the film changed Bittner’s life. Irving and Bittner eventually became a couple, moving in together in the Heslet Garden Compound on Telegraph Hill. While Bittner still loved the birds, Irving noted that when they first met, “those birds were his only friends, and it was deep”. Finding human companionship helped him move beyond what he described as “co-dependence” on the animals.

Beyond the documentary, Bittner authored a memoir with the same title as the film, and he was working on a second memoir called “Street Song” about his years busking on San Francisco streets. Irving is currently seeking a publisher for this unpublished work.

Bittner and Irving remained together for 25 years before amicably separating in 2024. Shortly after, Bittner embarked on a new chapter as a nomad, purchasing a camper van and heading north. Sadly, he only made it two months into his journey, reaching Humboldt County before dying of a heart attack.

Irving, an accomplished filmmaker in her own right with a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Grand Prize win at Sundance, has continued making films about birds, including “Pelican Dreams” in 2014. Irving and Bittner last appeared together at a 20th-anniversary screening of their documentary at the Roxie in early 2024.

Today, San Francisco is home to multiple flocks of wild parrots, including one that frequents Alamo Square Park. Bittner’s legacy ensures that these birds and their place in the city’s landscape will never be forgotten.