About 1,500 New York customers of the power company Con Ed lost electricity Monday because of Quaker parrots nesting in the equipment.

Customers in Beechhurst, Queens lost power for about 45 minutes because of problems caused by the parrots' nests, the UPI reported.

The neighborhood has become popular with the birds-also known as monk parakeets-which build condos of nests around the electric lines for warmth.

"These things are prolific -- very prolific..." Con Ed spokesman Chris Olert told the New York Post. "They have caused fires in the past from the nests being around the equipment. We need to remove these nests for reliability."

The power outage Monday occurred after heavy rains soaked the birds' nests and caused electrical equipment to overheat. Olert said this has happened several times before, with each repair costing $20,000.