[snip]
Since we're slightly off-topic, there is a colony of parakeets in Flatbush,
New York. They're not the green ringnecks but another form that build large
communal nests. Despite all claims that "they'd never survive the cold
winters", they've been there a few years now. Apparently they survive
because their communal nests are very warm and cosy in winter.

This is a source of some problems for the electricity company. In the US,
transformers are typically above ground on poles and these are a nice source
of a warm, flat building platforms. As a result, these parakeets build all
around the transformers which don't take kindly to poor ventilation and a
healthy (?) dose of parrot droppings!

Paul DS