Bill and Coo: The Citizen Kane of Bird Movies?

I'm very glad to be a member of The Long Island Parrot Society, and regularly receive its periodic newsletter. This January, LIPS showed a truly remarkable film to its members called Bill and Coo. This film, made in 1947, stars trained bird actors (including many love birds and parakeets), and it's one of the oddest, most charming movies I've never seen.

Bill and Coo was the product of comedian Ken Murray's fervid imagination: in the words of James Agee, the noted author who also reviewed films for Time Magazine, "it's the G*d-damnest thing I've ever seen." Sure, it might strike us modern viewers as a bit corny, and perhaps its plotline is a bit emblematic of early Cold War paranoia. But this Oscar-nominated film is a striking technical achievement, as well as an unforgettable act of love celebrating our feathered friends. And yes, folks, it's a love story, and I guess I'm a sucker for love.

As you probably know, I am working, with Diane West, on my own movie about the wild parrots of Brooklyn, and it will be quite unlike Bill and Coo. But I am strangely moved and inspired by this film, and you can watch it online, for free, by going to tesla.liketelevision.com (Real Player Required).

Video Clip: Quaker Parrots Frolic in Freezing Cold!

Here's another video clip for Valentine's Day. It shows the amorous antics of two wild Quaker Parrots perching on a rusty fire escape in 15 degree February weather.

The clip opens with a female parrot perching alone: she is soon joined by her returning mate. After reintroducing himself, they do some serious beak-to-beak communcation. Later, the pair's juvenile arrives, and Mom and Dad "cool it" in deference to the youngster's adolescent sensibilities.

This clip, like just about every clip we upload, will be making its way into the forthcoming Brooklyn Parrots documentary film.

Video Clip: Quaker Parrot Repels Starling

I've been watching wild Quaker Parrots living in the NYC area for two years now and have never seen them behave aggressively toward any other bird who was not an actual predator. But starlings, of which there must be thousands in Brooklyn, do sometimes "bug" the parrots enough to get a firm rebuke from a firm beak. In this 20 second clip, a Quaker Parrot drives off a starling who tries to crowd the parrot's position on a fire escape. This clip, like just about every clip we upload, will be making its way into the forthcoming Brooklyn Parrots documentary film.

Video Clip: Wild Quaker Parrots "Rumble" in Brooklyn

Brooklyn's wild flocks of Quaker Parrots generally get along well with other neighborhood creatures. But these parrots do seem to enjoy fighting each other from time to time. In this clip, excerpted from the forthcoming film on the Brooklyn Parrots, a bunch of pugnacious wild quakers "dust it up," causing a lot of ruffled feathers. Fortunately, nobody gets hurt! This clip, like just about every clip we upload, will be making its way into the forthcoming Brooklyn Parrots documentary film.