Marsha Compton is nearly done paying off a fine for an unusual ticket she got earlier this spring.

But she’s still raising a squawk.

“Why don’t they go after rapists and murderers? Why don’t they worry about drunk drivers and crack heads?” Compton wondered Wednesday. “There are more important things to worry about than someone with a little bird.”

What’s ruffled the Butler woman’s feathers is a $100 fine she got in March for having a monk parakeet.

Since 1973, it’s been illegal to import, sell or release the bright green birds — also known as Quaker parakeets and gray-headed parakeets — in Pennsylvania.

It’s banned because it’s considered an invasive species, said Clint Deniker, a law enforcement supervisor for the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Northwest Regional Office in Franklin.

“They’re a non-native species,” Deniker said, “and quite often they’re supercompetitive with our native species. The result is the native species is run out.”

Native to temperate regions of South America, the monk parakeets are more than capable of beating out native wildlife for available food and nesting areas, he said.

The birds, which are relatively small with a wing span of 29 to 48 centimeters and weighing 100 to 120 grams, also are considered pests because they build large stick nests in developed areas.

“Their nests are quite large,” Deniker said, “and often constructed on power lines.”

That, he noted, can end up harming transformers or causing fires from crossed electrical lines.

Besides all that, the birds can be chatty and messy.

But don’t tell Compton that. She thinks the monk parakeet is getting a bad rep and a raw deal, at least in Pennsylvania.

“They’re very sweet birds,” she said. “They can be handled and put on your shoulder. They can also be taught to speak.”

Compton got her bird three years ago as a gift from a friend, who bought it at a pet store in Ohio.

Monk parakeets are legal in Ohio and most other states. Pennsylvania is one of only 10 states where the bird is outlawed.

The pet store assured Compton and her friend that so long as the bird came with “DNA papers” it would be OK in Pennsylvania.

Compton found out otherwise after selling the bird to a cousin, Ralph Baer of Butler, who subsequently sold it on the Internet.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission learned of the e-sale earlier this year. Soon they came knocking at the doors of Compton and Baer. Then came the citations.

“It’s the first and only such case I’ve heard of,” Deniker said.

Compton and Baer, who could not be reached for comment, pleaded guilty in April. District Judge Pete Shaffer ordered each to pay $183.50 in fines and court costs.

Both bird lovers were placed on payment plans. Compton hopes to make her last payment this month.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” Compton said. “They’re not a harm to other birds and people should be allowed to keep them as pets.”