there's an early episode with some filmclips of real parrots in costumes. Apparently the clips were provided by a bird lady named Alba Ballard. The only online info I found indicated Bill Murray was in the episode, so it's from the first 4 seasons (or a later show he hosted):
in an early ''Saturday Night Live'' skit, Bill Murray played an NBC executive crowing about the network's new season, with the motto, ''We're more fun than the other guys.'' As proof, he showed brief clips of shows, all featuring Mrs. Ballard's costumed parrots and cockatoos in scenes from films like ''Lawrence of Arabia'' and invented sitcoms like ''The Pizza Guys.''
Anyone know which episode?

the richard benjamin ep from season 4 airdate april 7 1979

Excellent - thank you! I was googling for hours, and looking over the SNL site to no avail.

Excellent - thank you! I was googling for hours, and looking over the SNL site to no avail.your welcome im glad i could help a fellow snl fan