A young scientist successfully implants a human intelligence gene into six African Grey parrots. His series of fruitful experiments is brought to an early end when sensationalized media coverage and political opposition threaten his university's funding. Rather than face the prospect of having to put the entertaining, talkative parrots to death, he secretly places them with a retired bird breeder, safely removing them from the public eye. Mandy Grant, the breeder's 19-year-old niece, is spending the summer at her uncle's aviary, helping him care for his already sizable parrot flock. She's thrilled by the addition of the amusing Greys and quickly bonds with the new arrivals. But when the transgenic birds breed and their mutant, eagle-sized offspring escape, Mandy's quiet vacation turns into a headline-grabbing chase through the forests of New York's Hudson River Valley - in a dogged effort to rescue her Little Birdies