The Monk Parakeet is a rare, but locally common, breeder in the CW Region. This introduced species first arrived in the Chicago area in the early 1970's. Large, communal, stick nests are usually placed in trees, on electrical poles and towers, or on cell towers. Additional colonies continue to pop up in the Chicagoland area and they seem to tolerate harsh winters in our area, but their range has expanded relatively little during the past thirty years. Photo: © Luis Cesar Tejo