"Bittner was diagnosed with congestive heart failure last summer, when Irving insisted on taking him to the emergency room at UC San Francisco. He had started taking medication and exercising regularly, and he seemed to be improving when he decided to embark on a 'nomad odyssey' in a 2005 Honda minivan he repurposed into a camper."
"Irving explained the story of how the birds her longtime partner loved wound up in their home years ago: Charlie Parker had mistakenly ingested rat poison, affecting his motor abilities and making it impossible to fly on his own. Meanwhile, Big Bird crashed into a neighbor's roof deck window and was thought to have died, but she woke up hours later."
"Bittner was there for the entire trip, taking care of two dogs and two cats. On Feb. 28, he phoned Irving to let her know he was."
"They've been constant companions,' Irving said. 'I vow to take care of them for the rest of their lives.'"
Mark Bittner, a writer and musician, died of a heart attack on March 1 at 74. He gained fame for his connection with wild parrots in San Francisco, highlighted in the documentary 'The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.' His partner, Judy Irving, confirmed his passing and shared stories of their rescued parrots, Charlie Parker and Big Bird. Bittner had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure but had been improving before embarking on a nomadic journey. He was caring for pets when he passed away.
Read at SFGATE
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