Parakeets get the Death Sentence

I don't know how this story has not yet made the national wires.

United Illuminating began this week destroying 103 nests on utility poles in a campaign to exterminate a large portion of Connecticut's monk parakeet population that it says is creating fire hazards and the potential for power outages.
Several hundred of the non-native parakeets in four municipalities will be killed by UI and the federal government by the time the $125,000 project is completed.
UI work crews Monday began the project in West Haven where 79 nests are located, primarily along the shoreline.
Utility workers poke holes in the nests to capture the birds and then dismantle the nests. Crews were out again Thursday night, at a time when the birds congregate in their home near electric transformers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture euthanizes the parakeets using carbon dioxide.

It amazes me that this is being ignored both locally and nationally (near as I can tell). It seems like a case of overkill (no pun intended) in dealing with these rare and beautiful birds. I can't help wondering what the cost of relocation would have been.