The Carolina Parakeet was the only native parrot species in eastern North America, with a range that stretched from Florida to the Great Lakes Region, across the Great Plains, and even into New York. Like most parrot species, this was a social bird that lived in large flocks. The species went through a severe population decline and subsequent extinction as a result of deforestation and over hunting. The Cincinnati Zoo had the last known living individual, which died in 1918. This specimen was collected in Union County in southern Illinois in 1857.