Brooklyn College provides cushy digs for dozens of campus parakeets
Friday, September 23, 2011 at 13:27 
James Monroe Adams IV for News Monk parakeets, flocking to street near Brooklyn College campus, also like to nest on light poles at school's athletic field.
Brooklyn College is building a brand-new athletic field - and it wants to make sure certain high-profile members of the campus community are happy with it.
The parakeets.
A flock of exotic monk parakeets, also known as Quaker parrots, nest atop the light poles surrounding the current field.
College officials are taking pains to ensure dozens of birds have nothing to squawk about as they embark on a $3.3 million construction project.
They have earmarked about $5,000 to install 3x6-foot nesting platforms on the new light poles - kinda like parakeet condos.
The lighting will not be touched during the wild ones' mating period, which runs from April to October, or during the winter months when they need the refuge.
"Although the monk parakeets are not native to Brooklyn, they are beloved," said college spokesman Jeremy Thompson. "Their health and safety is of great concern to us."
Student Karli Kopp, 20, said she's thrilled the college is bending over backward for the green-feathered friends.
"I think we should respect the last shred of nature in the city," she said.
Daniel Goldstein, 23, said he liked the idea of protecting the birds, but saw a potential problem.
"Are they going to poop?" he wondered. "Birds tend to produce waste. If it's a field where people are going to do athletics, it could be problematic."
Steven Baldwin said the parrots, which are native to Argentina, probably wound up in New York in the late '60s when they escaped from a wayward crate at Brooklyn College.
He runs free tours of their nests and said it was "terrific" that the school was building new homes for them.
When his daughter was in high school a few years ago, a Brooklyn College recruiter ticked off a list of the school's attributes and added: "We are the only campus with wild parrots."
Not everyone is a fan.
New Jersey classifies them as "potentially dangerous." Con Edison considers the parrots a nuisance because they nest in their equipment and can cause safety hazards. The utility removes the nests when it finds them, as long as there are no eggs.
Baldwin said the parrots - which can also be found in a few other spots around the city - shouldn't cause any equipment problems at the college and deserve a little consideration.
"We should give them some props for making it in New York," he said.