City Nature Challenge 2024: Los Angeles County's Journal

What a fantastic City Nature Challenge that brought our highest number of participants yet!

Los Angeles Totals

• Observations: 21,825
• Species: 2,770, including 70 rare/endangered/threatened species
• People: 1,983, including 594 people who created their iNaturalist account after the beginning of April. New users collectively made 4,094 observations and recorded 260 species!
• Average number of observations per person: 11
• Most observed species in Los Angeles County: Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)

Since its beginning in 2016, more than 9,600 Los Angeles County residents have made 193,056 observations and documented more than 6,500 species. The total number of species is much greater than that recorded in any individual year, which shows the value of this kind of annual event in contributing to our understanding of local biodiversity.

Observations came in from all over Los Angeles County. See below for a small selection of the many amazing observations made by new and long-time iNaturalist users alike.

Putting the “City” in City Nature Challenge

• A peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) perched on a window ledge in Downtown Los Angeles, with lanes of traffic below - observed by new iNaturalist user @max-kai-cheetahmom

Rare, Endangered, Threatened, or Endemic

• Bocaccio (Sebastes paucispinis) fish, critically endangered globally - observed by @panthalassaunited
• California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) photos of a tagged, endangered California condor being harassed by a crow or raven. - observed by @christrent
• Blair's Munzothamnus (Munzothamnus blairii) plant endemic and threatened in California - observed by @kylephyte
• Sonoran Bumble Bee (Bombus sonorus) imperiled in California - observed by @keithhaney
• San Gabriel Chestnut (Glyptostoma gabrielense) snail imperiled and endemic to the northern part of Los Angeles county - observed by @cpmaceface, a representative of our partner, County of Los Angeles, Department of Parks & Recreation

Species Interactions

• Insect larvae on a wasp, which may be an example of a parasitoid species or an opportunistic instance of an insect laying its egg on the wasp - observed by both @boazsolorio and @ectothermist at an event hosted by our partner, USDA Forest Service, in the San Bernardino Experimental Forest.
• Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) the second western fence lizard caught by a great egret in a 15-minute time frame at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden - observed by @sorrykb
• San Diego Alligator Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata ssp. webbii) eating a pillbug - observed by @tmills

Animals on the Move

• American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) strolling along a trail - observed by new iNaturalist user @kellypfs
• Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) watercolor-like image of a peacock in flight - observed by new iNaturalist user @andysae
• Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) walking along the top of a fence - observed by new iNaturalist user @thecapelutos
• Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) possibly a young opossum out for a walk - observed by new iNaturalist user @max-kai-cheetahmom

Over and Under the Sea

• By-the-wind Sailor (Velella velella) in front of a sparkling blue ocean - observed by @panthalassaunited
• California Aglaja (Navanax inermis) multicolored sea slug - observed by @panthalassaunited

Cute Factor

• Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) four juveniles sitting in a tree, while the parents were nearby looking for food - observed by @kimssight
• Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) adult and juvenile - observed by @csj9999999
• Adult and young grebes, the fifth photo showing a juvenile sitting on the back of an adult - observed by @trailblazr

Thank You!

We would like to thank all 1,983 observers and 893 identifiers, as well as our local partner organizations.

The impact of the City Nature Challenge will be felt for many years to come, especially as people continue to identify this year’s submissions, increasing the percentage of Research Grade observations, which contribute to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), a large repository of open-access biodiversity data.

City Nature Challenge 2025

Mark your calendars for next year’s CNC, April 25-28, 2025. We will celebrate our 10th anniversary of the challenge and work to “Bring the Globe Together for Biodiversity.” We can’t wait to celebrate with you!

Thanks so much to everyone for another wonderful record-breaking City Nature Challenge! Thank you to everyone who took the time to get outside and make an observation, worked on identifications, spread the word, held an event, and more – all of you helped to share the biodiversity of the places you call home with the rest of the world! And of course a huge THANK YOU to all of our local organizers: they're the ones who make the City Nature Challenge happen in their cities, and this event would not be successful without them.
Since not every city uses iNaturalist for the CNC, we wanted to make sure to share the full collective results with all of you (visit the citynaturechallenge.org site to see the full leaderboard!):

• Total # of observations: 2,436,844
• Total # of observers: 83,528
• Total # of species documented: 65,682+, including more than 3,940 rare/endangered/threatened species
• Most observed species: Mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos), with 5,830 observations
• Number of participating countries: 51
• Number of participating cities: 690

See the infographic below for some interesting and fun finds from around the world!

And mark your calendars, next year's 10th anniversary City Nature Challenge is April 25-28, 2025!

If your city doesn't currently participate in the City Nature Challenge and you wish it did, find someone willing to be your city's local organizer and have them fill out the "Interested in organizing for CNC 2025" form!

We are now in the identification period of the City Nature Challenge, which means:

• You have additional time to finish uploading the many pictures and sounds you recorded over the weekend. (All photos and sounds must have been recorded between Friday, April 26 and Monday, April 29.)
• It’s time to identify observations! We need as many people as possible to help identify the more than 19,041 observations that have already been submitted.

We firmly believe that everyone can be an identifier and it’s a great way to hone your own ID skills as you page through observations and see organism names associated with photos. Here are some tips for getting started.

Get Started Making Identifications

• Begin with the Identify page for the City Nature Challenge 2024: Los Angeles County project. This will bring up all the observations that currently have “Needs ID” status.
• A short video explains How to use iNaturalist's Identify Page.

Use Filters

Filters are a great way to narrow down the observations to your area of interest or expertise. Here are some that we recommend.

• Select your favorite taxa by clicking on one of the category icons.
• Help identify the “Unknown” observations. A great way for beginners to help out is to identify the Unknown category by giving observations a broad ID such as, "bird," or "plant." This brings it to the attention of experts who can identify it further. Click on the icon of the question mark surrounded by a dashed line in the shape of a leaf. That will bring up all the observations that currently do not have any sort of identification. If you’re identifying the Unknown category, just remember to check if the user has added a “Placeholder” identification. If so, it will appear in the top left corner of the observation, once you click on it. Adding an identification clears the placeholder so it may be good to leave it alone. Chances are, the observer will add it as an identification themselves.
• Help identify Captive/Cultivated observations. During the CNC many observations come in of garden plants and captive animals. Once something is marked Captive/Cultivated, it becomes a “Casual” observation and doesn’t show up in the usual filter for “Needs ID.” By clicking the filter box for “Captive” you can help provide feedback and identifications for those observations. (When going through “Captive” observations, you won’t need to mark them as Captive/Cultivated because they already have been. Otherwise, they wouldn’t show up via that filter. Remember to go back into the Filters and click on "Needs ID" when you want to go back to identifying those observations.
• Identify observations made by people are new to iNaturalist. Under “Account Creation,” you can pull up observations made by people who joined iNaturalist in the last week. If you want to extend that to those who joined in the last month, go up to the URL and change “after=1w” to “after=4w”.

Additional Tips

• As you go through observations, especially plants, mark anything that is obviously captive or cultivated as “Captive/Cultivated” at the bottom of the observation. This is something that anyone can do and helps clean up the data for researchers.
• Welcome new iNaturalist users and offer helpful guidance. iNaturalist has a page devoted to Frequently Used Responses that features scripts you can use when encountering common issues.
• When you get to the end of a page of observations, iNaturalist will ask if you want to “Mark all as reviewed.” Doing so will mean that you won’t see those particular observations again.
• Remember, it's ok to be conservative. Only make suggestions based on what you are comfortable in your own ability to identify. Other people will also be making identifications on these observations. Additionally, don't worry if you can't ID something down to the species level. Many observations can't be ID'd to species level because of photo quality or because some species can only be identified by looking at a specimen under a microscope.
• You don’t have to be an expert.
• Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Wrong IDs happen to everyone and each one is a learning opportunity.

Let Us Know What You Find Interesting

As you're going through observations, let us know if you find anything interesting. Is it rare or extremely threatened? Is it observed outside of its normal range? Does it showcase interesting behavior? Is there a great photo or story attached to it? You can send us a message with a link to the observation and tell us why you think it's interesting or you can tag us in the observation comments so we can check it out @natureinla. We'd also love to hear your stories of community scientists and their experiences with the CNC. We may be able to feature them on social media or in our CNC results post.

Thanks to everyone who made observations this weekend and for your help in identifying.

Stay tuned for our results post the afternoon of May 6!

As we write this post, it is 13 hours into the 2024 City Nature Challenge. A small cadre of people kicked off the event at midnight and observations have been rolling in since then. We’ve just crossed the 1,000 observation mark and almost 200 people have participated.

2024 Goals

We’ve set some ambitious goals for this year and hope that you’ll help us achieve them.

• Observation Goal: 30,000
• Species Goal: 3,000
• Participants Goal: 2,000

Together we can make this happen!

CNC Stats

Here’s how to keep up on L.A.’s progress and see what’s happening in the rest of the world.

• City Nature Challenge 2024: Los Angeles County project
• City Nature Challenge 2024: California cities
• City Nature Challenge Live Results showing all cities

Get Out and Explore

Whether you prefer to get out on your own, spend time with friends and family, or join a group, L.A. has so much to offer.

Show us who lives in your neighborhood, your local park, or at a one of our partners’ events.

Let’s go L.A.!

Join us to meet your human and wildlife neighbors in L.A.!

IN-PERSON PROGRAM AT THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
Survey with a Scientist
Saturday, April 27, 10am–12:30pm
Hosted by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Join tens of thousands of people in the largest bioblitz in the world for the 9th annual City Nature Challenge! Visit the Natural History Museum to find and document urban wildlife and put nature in LA on the world map. How? It’s easy! The simple and free iNaturalist app turns your photos into data in a global database of urban biodiversity.

Learn how to use iNaturalist on family-friendly nature exploration walks in the Nature Gardens. Meet community organizations and research scientists who use your photos-turned-data to understand and protect nature for us all. Who are our nature neighbors at the Natural History Museum of L.A. County? We need your help to find out!

Beginner-friendly and all ages
Childcare available for iNaturalist training
Bilingual in Spanish
Admission and parking included

There’s more to explore! Check out these events hosted by City Nature Challenge L.A. Partners

IN-PERSON PROGRAM
Campus BioBlitz
Saturday, April 26, 9am–11am
Hosted by West Los Angeles College Climate Center and Nature Nexus Institute

Bioblitz walking tour around WLAC campus for staff, students, faculty, and the general public.

IN-PERSON PROGRAM
City Nature Challenge: Guided Nature Hike at Rocky Oaks
Friday, April 26, 4–6pm
Hosted by Santa Monica Mountains Fund

Join NPS volunteers and partner staff in a slow-guided hike to focus on collecting iNaturalist observations of your favorite wildlife species.

IN-PERSON PROGRAM
City Nature Challenge BioBlitz!
Friday, April 26, 6–7:30pm
Hosted by Friends of the Los Angeles River, the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, and Frogtown Brewery

A nature walk along the LA River with a bioblitz.

IN-PERSON PROGRAM
City Nature Challenge: Guided Nature Hike at Rancho Sierra Vista
Saturday, April 27, 9–11am
Hosted by Santa Monica Mountains Fund

Join NPS volunteers and partner staff along active restoration sites to focus on collecting iNaturalist observations of your favorite wildlife species.

IN-PERSON PROGRAM
Bioblitz in the Marsh
Saturday, April 27, 10am–12pm
Hosted by Heal the Bay

Join Heal the Bay for an Earth Month Bioblitz to contribute to a global citizen science database!

IN-PERSON PROGRAM
Bioblitz in Fern Dell
Saturday, April 27, 10am–12pm
Hosted by Heal the Bay

Join Heal the Bay for an Earth Month Bioblitz to contribute to a global citizen science database!

IN-PERSON PROGRAM
City Nature Challenge at Willow Springs Park
Saturday, April 27, 10am–12pm
Hosted by the City of Long Beach

Join the Office of Climate Action & Sustainability at Willow Springs Park to explore the trails, help identify wildlife, and take part in fun activities that celebrate our local native habitat!

IN-PERSON PROGRAM
City Nature Challenge: Guided Nature Hike at Paramount Ranch
Sunday, April 28, 9–11am
Hosted by Santa Monica Mountains Fund

Join NPS volunteers and partner staff in a slow-guided hike to focus on collecting iNaturalist observations of your favorite wildlife species.

IN-PERSON PROGRAM
Studio City CNC BioBlitz
Sunday, April 28, 10am
Hosted by Save LA River Open Space

Local Community nature walk focusing on 16 acres of LA River open green space.

IN-PERSON PROGRAM
BioBlitz for the City Nature Challenge
Sunday, April 28, 8am–10am and 10am–12pm
Hosted by Nature Nexus Institute

Join the efforts to document biodiversity in Los Angeles as part of the City Nature Challenge! Learn how to be a careful observer, use iNaturalist, and meet some of the amazing plants and wildlife that call Baldwin Hills Parklands home.

8am–10am - Better chance of spotting birds
10am–12pm - Lizards and invertebrates should be on the move since it will be a little warmer

It’s that time of year again. The 2024 City Nature Challenge begins in two weeks!

Join more than 600 cities from around the world in documenting nature and contributing to a global survey of biodiversity.

Key dates for this year’s City Nature Challenge

• April 26 - April 29 Observation period (take photos and record sounds of WILD plants, animals, slime molds, etc.)
• April 30 - May 5 Identification period (continue to upload any photos or sounds made during the observation period and help to ID others’ observations)
• May 6 Results announced

You do not need to join our project to make your observations count. Any observation made within Los Angeles County between April 26 -April 29 will automatically be added to the City Nature Challenge. However, you may want to join the project to receive updates. If so, click on the link for our City Nature Challenge 2024: Los Angeles County project, click join, and make sure to check the box to “Receive updates from this project.”

Stay tuned for a list of local events happening in support of the CNC. We look forward to showing the world how much nature is in L.A.!