It chronicles the relationship between Mark Bittner, an unemployed musician who lives rent-free in a cabin in the Telegraph Hill-neighborhood of San Francisco, and a flock of feral parrots that he feeds and looks after.

Bittner also wrote a memoir about his experiences with the parrots, which shares the title of the documentary, but has the added subtitle: A Love Story...with Wings.

Although he would occasionally do odd jobs, he mostly was more or less unemployed and homeless for many years, until he found some stability, thanks to a free place to stay, and purpose (and even minor celebrity), thanks to the relationship he developed with the parrots.

As is explained in the special features included on the DVD release of the film, about a year after Bittner left Telegraph Hill, he and Irving moved back, to a house near his old one, and he reestablished his connection with the flock of parrots, which had grown some.

[1] The musical score for the film was the final project by Chris Michie, a Bay area musician who was formerly the guitarist for Van Morrison, before his death from melanoma.