Support the Ban on Feeding Parrots

My name is Bill Widnall. In January and February of 2006 I started training and
feeding the red-headed parrots that live in downtown San Francisco. Now
They have become very tame and very friendly, and frankly too focused on
human beings. I am worried that they will now be stolen from the park, which is
the fate of so many parrots in the wild. The bird trade is sordid one and these
parrots are here because of it.

Their diet has become bad. They are eating too many sunflower seeds and apples, which
is what a regular group feeds them. This group feeds them 7 days a week, two hours a day.
The parrots don't need us to feed them. There are a lot of things in San Francisco
that they have been eating for years.

The parrots also bite and they bite hard. They carry diseases, so there is also a lawsuit
waiting to happen. Lots of parents put the parrots on their children not thinking about
this issue.

The city is trying to pass reasonable legislation to protect these birds, but there is
now an organized group of parrot feeders that is determined to defeat the ban, by
e-mailing the San Francisco supervisors daily. I urge people to support the ban, and to
write the supervisors, telling them that you want the birds to stay wild, to
be free, not a pet. Free, not a zoo exhibit. Let them hear from people who
love birds, but don't need to feed them. The addresses for the supervisors
are on the SF government web page. More people should be involved with
this discussion than just a group of regular parrot feeders in the park.

I deeply regret my actions, and want to see a better life for these parrots.
But I fear that most of the public is not aware of the situation. They know
perhaps that a guy named Mark Bittner made a book and a movie about
them, but they are unaware of the changes in the bird's behaviour. The
parrots have been here for 20 years or so, but this problem is a recent one.
The birds are in more danger now, than they used to be and they need our help.
I welcome also any questions and discussion on this issue.

Thank you.