City Nature Challenge 2024: Los Angeles County's Journal

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!

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!