Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe NEW YORK, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A councilman in New York says he wants to protect a group of wild South American parrots that for some reason are at home in the busy city. Queens Councilman Tony Avella said he wants approval to have the typically warm-weather animals and their nests transferred if deemed necessary to ensure their safety from possible poachers of vandals, the New York Daily News said Monday. Advertisement The creator of pro-parrot legislation said by protecting the wild parrots living in New York's Brooklyn borough, area politicians would be helping nature. "No matter what the economy is doing one way or the other, we should be mindful of the animals that share this planet with us," Avella said. The parrots' nests have been blamed for causing power outages in the city, as well as delaying area construction projects. Geologist Barry Schwartz with the city's Department of Design and Construction agrees the birds' native to Argentina should be protected. "They've been here for 30 years," he told the Daily News of the birds, whose origins in New York remain a mystery. "They're part of the neighborhood." Advertisement
