Questions are being raised about how the city's electric utility provider, Austin Energy, handles the city's monk parakeet population, which has built large nests on or near several local utility poles. The Travis Audubon Society, a local nonprofit that supports wildlife conservation through birding, called the utility's process of removing the birds from their nests "cruel" and "heartless," claiming in a Facebook post Thursday that Austin Energy crews knock the birds' flightless young as well as their eggs to the ground. Austin Energy responded Friday with a Facebook post of its own and a press conference at noon near several large monk parakeet nests at the intersection of East Riverside and South Pleasant Valley drives. Monk parakeets, which are native to South America and were originally brought to Austin as pets, according to the utility, can build nests as large as an automobile. Their large size and the materials they're constructed with pose a serious fire hazard—especially with their proximity to many power lines, said Elaina Ball, Austin Energy's Chief Operating Officer and deputy general manager. "Typically in a year we will have somewhere between five and 10 pole-top fires as a result of these nests," Ball said. She estimates incidents would number in the dozens if Austin Energy did not remove the nests. Monk parakeets are "part of the fabric of Austin," Ball said, and are not seen as a problem. "Our team members don't want to be out removing nests," Ball said. "They want to be putting up infrastructure, but occasionally, we do end up with these situations where we have these large combustible nests that ... could create a fire." According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the monk parakeet's conservation status is listed as "Least Concern" as the population increases. Jordan Price, membership director with the Travis Audubon Society, said the society is looking for volunteers to monitor Austin Energy crews during nest removals. "We’re going to set up volunteer teams … to follow staff around and document what they are doing out there." He said those interested in volunteering can contact the organization by email. Price said the organization's concern is not that the nests are being removed, but that they are being removed during the bird's breeding season of April through June. He said that other utility providers—such as Oncor Electric Delivery, which covers various service areas in Texas including the Dallas area—have protocols for nest maintenance that preclude nest removal during the monk parakeet's breeding season. "This is something we want to work with Austin Energy on," Price said.