Mark Bittner: The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

Every so often along comes a simple tale — often about people and animals — that just captures the imagination.

I think this is one of them — and I note it's already been on the New York Times bestseller list.

Mark Bittner describes himself — in the phrase coined by hippie poet Gary Snyder — as "a dharma bum" and that just about sums it up.

A leftover from the counterculture of the 70s, he's still sitting around 20 years on, meditating and waiting for the universe to give him a sign about the great cause to which he should devote his life.

Meantime, because he doesn't want to waste energy on what might prove to be a destructive path, he's broke, sleeping in the streets, scrounging for food, friendless and loveless. Life seems so meaningless he even thinks of ending it, but when he rings the Suicide Prevention Centre the counsellor tells him he's "picked a really bad time to call" and suggests ringing back later.

But don't snigger because the universe does, in fact, give him the sign he's been waiting for ... though at first he doesn't recognise it.

Bittner becomes a sort of caretaker for a property on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill — which rises between the landmarks of Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown and North Beach — and there he discovers a flock of wild parrots.

Over time he becomes fascinated by these birds, traces their history and habits, comes to know their personalities, wins their trust, shares their joys and tragedies, and in the process fills the void in his own life.

The story of Bittner's interaction with the parrots spreads, he becomes a local personality, journalists want to write him up, a film maker does a documentary on his life and people give him money to continue his work.

Suddenly he not only has his marvellous relationship with the birds but also the partner he has been searching for, a permanent home on the hill, a source of income and a full and satisfying life.

And now he's written a bestselling book. Who says the universe doesn't answer ... eventually?

* Jim Eagles is the Herald travel editor
* Three Rivers Press, $29.95