NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – United Illuminating Co. officials told a Superior Court judge Tuesday that the company will soon begin taking down 103 huge bird nests on utility poles after having finished removing dozens of monk parakeets.

The company was in New Haven Superior Court after the Darien-based animal-rights group Friends of Animals sought a temporary restraining order to stop the project, which included killing the parakeets.

The group withdrew its request after Judge Linda K. Lager noted that UI had no plans to capture any more birds this year, said Pricilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals.

“It was a parrot victory,” Feral said. “UI agreed not to capture any of the escapees, and we know there were a lot of them.”

The company said about 200 birds have been taken from nests and turned over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which kills the birds using carbon dioxide.

The utility, which serves about 320,000 customers in southern Connecticut, began its parakeet eradication project last month. It says the 200-pound nests made from sticks need to go because they can cause fires and blackouts.

Feral said she would like UI to leave the nests alone until spring.

Her group plans to file a lawsuit in January that would force UI to deal with the nests in a more humane way.

“The question is whether they will get through the winter without a nest or time to rebuild them,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., said the decision to stop the gassing of the birds will give officials more time to find a humane way to relocate the birds’ nests.

“The bottom line is there has been an incredible outpouring of support for these animals, and we need to work with the USDA, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and United Illuminating Co. to find another viable approach,” Shays said.