A flock of parrots known to have lived in San Francisco since the early 1970s has survived the loss of some tree habitat, cold snaps, and various other threats over the years. A popular film and book both called "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" brought the birds to national attention in 2004 and 2005. At least two local legislative efforts have been made to help protect the flock, the first of which successfully protected some of the birds' long-time cypress tree habitat on Telegraph Hill in 2006.

Now, after initial interaction with just a small handful of humans, activists say the health, welfare and safety of the beloved wild parrots of Telegraph Hill has been threatened by a larger group of bird lovers who have taken to feeding the parrots daily in a downtown San Francisco park. The birds have become assimilated to direct interaction with human beings, and many will now feed directly from any stranger's hand. Activists say the feeding makes the flock vulnerable to numerous threats, ranging from unsustainable population growth to outright abduction. On May 22nd and again on June 5th, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 to ban human feeding of the flock, although to date people are still hand-feeding the birds.

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