Welcome to the Philadelphia City Nature Challenge! Between April 26 and April 29, 2019, Philadelphia and its adjacent counties will be competing against other cities in the world to see who can find the most species in their regions. If you are interested in contributing and helping Philly win, download the iNaturalist app (or visit the website) and start documenting the wildlife in your area. You can also visit our project page to see the latest observations as they come in.

A lot of people think cities are mostly devoid of wildlife; there are the pigeons hanging out on buildings, the sparrows in city parks and the rats running around our alleyways, but that’s about it. This could not be farther from the truth. The City of Philadelphia alone has recorded more than 325 species of birds. Numerous butterflies including monarchs live and breed in the city. There are snakes, frogs, dragonflies, foxes, bats, and much more to experience in our area. The City Nature Challenge gives us a way to explore and document the biodiversity in the cities and suburbs we call home. This, in turn, is useful for science and conservation.

The region covered under the 2019 City Nature Challenge for the Philadelphia area includes Philadelphia county and all the counties that directly border Philadelphia. So make sure your observations are in one of these 7 counties so that they count towards our totals.

In Pennsylvania,

• Philadelphia County

• Delaware County

• Montgomery County

• Bucks County

and in New Jersey,

• Burlington County

• Camden County

• Gloucester County

For information on the City Nature Challenge, tips on participating and to see the other cities competing on 2019 check out the City Nature Challenge page.

See bioPhilly in the news:

From catbirds to butterflies: Here’s what Philly’s finding in its first City nature Challenge.