Our Stories: The Birds Posed a Hazard. Con Edison Found a Way to Help.
Again? Way at the top of one of Con Edison’s 60-foot poles—the kind that help transition underground cable to overhead wire—there appeared to be…a nest. And not just any nest. A giant nest.
“It was definitely going to be a recurring issue if we didn’t take care of this,” says Paul Kies, a senior specialist in Con Edison’s Environment, Health & Safety department on Staten Island.
The problem was serious. Nesting material mixed with electricity can easily catch fire. If the nest caught fire, the fire could trigger outages—affecting homes, a mall, and even a hospital.
About a year prior, in April 2023, similar, 6-foot-wide nests on a nearby poll caught fire--twice, because “we would take the nest down, and they would build it right back the next day,” says Kies. The nests belonged to ospreys, protected birds also known as sea hawks. With an estuary at that area around Richmond Avenue and Arthur Kill Road in Staten Island, the soaring utility poles all around are prime spots for nesting. Ospreys prefer to settle around shorelines and wetlands, as they feed on fish that they catch with their talons, according to The National Audubon Society.
Last March, the nests reappeared. Because there were not yet eggs in them—a stipulation issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—Charlie Morris, a troubleshooter in Con Edison’s Staten Island Electric Services Emergency Operations, led an effort to take them down again. During the removal process, Morris’ team identified “tracking”—electrical currents—traveling across some of the nests’ biggest branches, a sign that fires were likely. As they worked to deenergize and remove the nests, the team wore respirators and personal protective equipment to also guard against potential pathogens that ospreys can carry. Con Edison considers all forms of safety a priority.
By then, Kies and a construction team were also at work to find a solution for the nests. Through research, they learned that ospreys prefer the highest point, making the poles prime targets. They consulted with other utilities to learn how they dealt with the issue.
“We came up with a plan to design the poles with platforms,” says Christopher Mc Elduff, an operating supervisor in Con Edison’s Staten Island Electric Services Overhead.
“We have plenty of different materials we use throughout our system,” says Andy Zambito, the chief line constructor in Electrical Services Overhead. “We have this one material, some guys call it ‘waffle board.’ It’s basically like a heavy-duty plastic. It’s kind of egg-shaped, and it has holes in it.”
“We were able to cut one [sheet] directly in half and get two platforms out of it,” Mc Elduff adds. “Being that it’s open…the rain would go through it. It wouldn’t build up, so it actually worked out perfect.”
Knowing the birds had built two nests last spring, the team selected two different poles for the platforms. To attach the plastic board to the tops of the poles, they cut a hole in the middle of each one to create a three-foot reveal. They used cross arms that normally hold electrical wires to support the boards. The cross arms formed “legs” that the team secured to the poles.
Then they waited.
Seemingly on cue, “The birds came back in the spring and built a nest,” Kies says. They affectionately named the bird they saw the most often Eddie.
Before long, “There were chicks in there,” Kies adds.
The team had accomplished their goal of preserving Con Edison’s reliability. And they discovered that they weren’t the only ones concerned about the ospreys.
As they were finishing installing the platforms, a man came up to them. “He was like, ‘Oh man, that’s great! You guys built that for the birds?’” Mc Elduff says. “I’ve never seen anybody get that excited.”