Small and stocky birds perch, hunched over, on the treetops and branches of Lake Okeechobee on the edge of Florida’s swampy Everglades for the better part of winter. The alligators swarming the murky waters below don’t faze the black-crowned night herons — in fact, the birds count on them for protection. And when some fly away for the summer, they seek out other animals that can do the same.

This heron is the world’s most widely distributed species of its kind, found on every continent except for Australia and Antarctica. But it’s been endangered in Illinois since the 1970s as the population has declined across the Great Lakes region because of human harassment and disappearing wetlands .

For the last 15 years, however, Chicago has become a popular summer hub and the location of the

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