Urban vector legends

After 40 hours without electricity, I needed a movie. Netflix lead me to The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. I wasn't expecting to think about work and invasive species and Vital Signs on a sleepy Saturday evening, but darn it that's what happened. Two things make this a particularly good film for VS:

(1) Mark Bittner is an incredible example of a passionate citizen scientist...a novice turned expert through careful, daily observation.

(2) For 2-ish minutes the film focuses on 10-ish "urban legends" about how the parrots escaped pet-dom and ended up on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill. Each legend is a lesson in itself on invasive species vectors!

Here's a movie synopsis direct from http://www.pelicanmedia.org:

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill is the true story of a Bohemian St. Francis and his remarkable relationship with a flock of wild green-and-red parrots. Mark Bittner, a homeless street musician in San Francisco, falls in with the flock as he searches for meaning in his life, unaware that the wild parrots will bring him everything he needs. The film celebrates urban wildness, Bohemian and avian, and links the parrots' antics to human behavior. A surprise ending ties the themes together and completes Mark's search for meaning.