Two friends, Birdy and Al arrive back from Vietnam, scared in different ways. Al has physical injuries, Birdy has mental problems that make him yearn to be a bird, a subject that always obsessed him since childhood. Birdy is confined to a military hospital, where he spends his time sitting naked in his room, not acknowledging anyone, moving and acting like a parakeet. Al, his best friend, visits Birdy every day, determined to bring him back to reality. But in the end he show solidarity with his friend against the seemingly normal world and begins to plan the break-out.