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On Friday, October 31 (Halloween) Commonwealth Edison, Chicago's local Electric Company, removed the single largest monk parakeet nest in Hyde Park from one of their utility poles. The nest measured ten feet across and was home to more than 20 parakeets. On Wednesday, November 5 several more nests were removed, leaving even more of the birds homeless, perhaps as 
many as 50 or 60.
All of these nests were removed from an alley that runs parallel to 54th street between Woodlawn and Kimbark Aves., behind the St. Thomas Aquinas school. For exact locations, check this map of nesting sites in Hyde Park.
All of these nests were built on utility poles, and posed a fire hazard, according to ComED. On the night of June 23, one of the nests caused a transformer to overheat, setting a utility pole ablaze and damaging $15,300 worth of electrical equipment. Residents in the area lost power for 12 hours, and the parakeets had to build a new nest. They rebuilt on the same pole charred by the fire.
On Monday, October 27, a meeting was held with ComED representatives (including their wildlife biologist), Hyde Park alderman Toni Preckwinkle, and citizens living around the alley attending. At this meeting the citizens were informed that the nests would be removed sometime "in the next couple of weeks", according to Tracy Teslow, who attended the meeting.
Most residents of Hyde Park felt that it was reasonable that the birds' nests be removed from the utility poles where they were a fire hazard. For several other reasons ComED's actions, and those of Toni Preckwinkle, have been called into question by a large number of Hyde Park residents and parakeet watchers.
1.) The nest removed on October 31 was NOT on a utility pole where a transformer was located, 
thus it was not a real fire hazard. The nest had been in constant use by the parakeets for over 10 years, and is well known to many residents. This nest was destroyed due to the complaints of Eugene Krell, a man who lived next to the largest nest, removed Oct. 31. He said he had been removing sticks for ten years and was sick of it. Three days after the nest was removed, another neighbor had a $20,000 two-car garage built. He didn't want his property value diminished, so he bothered ComED until they removed the nests. Can we remove wildlife when they become inconvenient?
2.) Toni Preckwinkle, sworn to work in the best interests of Hyde Park as alderman, abandoned the democratic process in allowing ComED to have their way with the parakeets. Only the residents living directly adjacent to the alley were invited to the meeting, and once there, were allowed only very limited input. According to Tracy Teslow, who attended the meeting, the citizens were simply "told" that the nests would be removed, with no real discussion. Furthermore, the actual date of removal was not announced until October 30, one day before it was to occur. This minimized any attempt at foiling the plan. ComED must have known that community activism stopped a plan to kill the birds in 1988. Preckwinkle supposedly plans to call another meeting in the Spring to discuss the birds. Let's hope she doesn't want to get rid of them altogether.
3.) ComED is a large corporation with a poor track record on community issues (i.e. the nuclear plant that can't meet code). They are in this business not to protect wildlife, but to make money off of the residents of the Chicago area. Repeatedly, Oliver Hassell, ComED's PR man for the South Side, has been quoted concerning the birds' habits and abilities, although ComED did very little research into the ecology of the birds. The Hyde Park Herald quoted Hassel as saying "We're not killing them, we're inducing them to build elsewhere." First of all, Toni Preckwinkle admitted to the Chicago Maroon that euthanization was originally proposed by ComED, but she didn't feel comfortable supporting that. ComED did not have the interests of the birds in mind until the media got involved. Secondly, they did nothing to induce the birds to build elsewhere; they simply destroyed their nests. Inducing them to build elsewhere would include something to keep them off of the poles in the long run, and perhaps providing an alternative nesting substrate. Their plan is simply to continually remove the nests as they are rebuilt. If ComED cared about the birds they would have considered the issue further and thought of a long-term solution to the problem.
To voice your complaints, you can contact the following people:
The monk parakeets, native to sub-tropical parts of South America, will not be able to survive indefinitely in the harsh, blustery winter environment of Hyde Park. If people are feeding them they should fare well for awhile, and have enough energy to rebuild their nests. The question remains, how cold can it get before they freeze to death at night without a nest? Instead of waiting for this question to be answered, several Hyde Park residents hope to provide some sort of nesting structure for the birds. The response to the plight of the birds has been very refreshing and helpful for gauging community interest, and I have received several ideas for alternatives to the poles as nesting substrates.
After consideration and discussion with several other parakeet lovers, the list of ideas has been narrowed to three different possibilities. First of all, a structure could be built on top of the poles, above the transformer, for the birds to build nests on. It would help if a lattice or fake nest could be present as well, to further induce the birds to build their nests there instead of on the transformers. They tend to go for the highest sites, so this may be a viable alternative. The only problem would be in putting the structures on top of the poles. We would have to get the aid of ComED, who has basically said that they will do nothing to help the birds. Too bad they are not more like SRP in Arizona, who have an avian protection program. When this alternative was mentioned to Alderman Toni Preckwinkle, she called it a "nutty idea".
Another variation on the above theme would be to simply build a new, bare pole in nearby Nichols Park, and attracting the birds away from the poles with the transformers. The lattice or pre-existing nest could be included. In South America, it has been observed that monk parakeets will often build their nest compartments below that of the Jeribu stork, for protection from predators and for the structural support. Mark Spreyer, director of the Stillman Nature Center and an expert on monk parakeets, said that it has been observed also that they will build underneath osprey nests in similar fashion. The main problem with this avenue would be in obtaining a pole and putting it up. Also, the birds, if used to poles, might go back to the electrical poles when the bare poles are too full or the nest is damaged. They need to be where they will not bother anyone.
What may prove to be the most feasible involves placing some sort of structures in neighborhood trees to attract the birds to nest there. Ideally it would be something that would be immediately useful to the displaced birds. Mark Spreyer, who founded the Chicago Peregrine Release and Restoration project, claims that a large laundry basket, filled with twigs and suspended in a tree, has been successful for attracting great-horned owls to nest. It has also been shown, according to Spreyer, that great-horned owls will use monk parakeet nests after they are abandoned. This option may be tried in several trees, including those immediately next to the alley, and/or those in Nichols Park, across the street from the alley.
ComED really left the birds few options, and by their secrecy left those concerned for the parakeets scrambling for ideas to help them. Their approach was destructive and cruel to the birds, and should be condemned by all of those who value wildlife. Human intervention may be the only way to save them.
All of the Chicago and Hyde Park media came out to cover the story, due to the efforts of Tracy Teslow, a graduate student in history at the University of Chicago. To read the press' accounts of the events, follow the links below. Many of them are incomplete right now, because of a lack of permission to publish their stories.
Disclaimer: The views expressed on this page are not necessarily those of the media represented below.
