Power Bird

The Monk Parakeet has an interesting history in Chicago.  Obviously not a native of the area, it was originally from southern South America and first came to the U.S. as pets.  Some escaped and started breeding in Chicago, Boston, California, Texas and Florida.  As you can see in this picture they like to nest in electrical power substations, building large nests of twigs in and around the equipment.  The electric companies regularly clear out the nests.  As the story goes, the electric company in Chicago was going to eradicate the population because they were a nuisance, but then mayor Harold Washington had taken a liking to them and nixed the plan.  We have a group of them in a substation not far from our house.