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Neighborhood on Gurnee's west side becoming tropical bird paradise

It's become a tropical summer in a neighborhood on Gurnee's west side.

Tropical birds have been spotted — and six of them captured — since July 6, police and neighbors said. It's unknown why the nonnative birds that are kept indoors as pets have been found outdoors in Gurnee.

“We have not had any calls from anyone asking for their birds,” Gurnee Deputy Police Chief Saundra Campbell told the Daily Herald on Friday.

Capital Lane resident Carla Hartman said the most recent tropical bird sighting occurred Thursday, when neighbors were unable to nab a cockatiel that flew from a porch into trees. The activity has been around Congress Court and Capital, on Gurnee's west side near Washington Street and Almond Road.

At roughly 9 a.m. July 6, a Congress Court resident reported finding a parrot and a yellow canary, Campbell said. She said an officer collected the birds and brought them to police headquarters for an overnight stay before they were sent to Lake County Animal Care and Control, a division of the health department.

Lake County Health Department spokeswoman Leslie Piotrowski said the parrot and yellow canary ended up at a Spring Grove bird rescue facility.

Campbell said another report about tropical birds being on the loose in the neighborhood came to police about 12:30 p.m. July 7. That's when Hartman told authorities she caught four canaries and planned to care for them at her house.

She said a fish net and a plastic container were used to catch the birds on the different days

“I'd just love to know where they came from,” said Hartman, who has her own 22-year-old cockatiel called Nacho.

The four stray canaries she's caring for in her house are in the same cage, separate from Nacho, with the names Salsa, Chips, Queso and Taco.

“I don't think I need any more birds,” she said.

Twitter: @DHBobSusnjara

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