I was driving down Swift road this past Sunday during the power outage and pulled into the Com Ed offices there to see what was going on. As I came back towards St. Chuck road, I thought I heard parrots. Lo and behold, I did and I saw 5 magnificent green parrots of good size squawking and flying in formation having a good ole time. Same parrots like I see in Key Largo or Cayman Islands.
Google monk parrokeet. Been expanding their range over the past decade or so. Haven't seen any in GE, but see them often along the lakefront in Chicago, and they have been in Hyde Park and (I believe) LaGrange for some time. Once you've seen/heard one, you'll never mistake it for another bird. Quite a distinct color/flight/call.
Gus - these are monk parakeets or quaker parrots. They tend to like to nest on transformers and do cause problems with their gigantic colony nests.
They are native to Argentina but have several colonies in North America - including a somewhat famous one in Hyde Park that Harold Washington was fond of. Speculation is that they originated in America as escaped pets.
They are very surprising to come across for the first time - there used to be (13 years or so ago) a colony off of Schmale just north of Geneva in a tall poplar tree.
If any of you ever play Beverly Country Club, look for seas of green parrots on the second tee. I believe that they were brought here during the 1893 World's Fair and took up residence. They apparently don't migrate too well.
