Embrace the healing power of nature! The City Nature Challenge is back in Pittsburgh for 2023. Using the free iNaturalist app, let’s work together virtually with cities around the world to safely document biodiversity in whatever way we can, even at home or in our neighborhoods.
Kicking off April 28, the challenge runs to the end of the day May 1. Participation is easy! All you need is a camera and the free iNaturalist app (a camera phone or tablet if you have one).
Identification of the photographed species will be crowd-sourced through the online community May 2 – May 7.
Educators: Share the City Nature Challenge with your students. Everything you need to get started is right here in this toolkit, and it can be easily adapted for distance learning.
April 28 – May 1: Make Nature Observations!
City Nature Challenge Observation Blogs
Building Birding Skills
by Patrick McShea Today is National Go Birding Day, a designation that prompts questions about how best to become involved in such …Read More »City Nature Challenge: A 2022 Reflection
by Patrick McShea This year marked the fifth consecutive year that CMNH has sponsored the City Nature Challenge (CNC). One benefit of participation in the …Read More »Using iNaturalist in the City Nature Challenge and beyond
by Patrick McShea Participation in this year’s City Nature Challenge (CNC), April 28–May 1, 2023, is a great way to familiarize yourself with iNaturalist, …Read More »Reading Results: CNC Final Phase
by Patrick McShea Whether you participated in the recent City Nature Challenge (CNC) or not, the results of the Pittsburgh Region’s broadest …Read More »Warmer Springs and Earlier Birds
by Bonnie McGill Male Red-winged Blackbirds! For me, their calls and bright red shoulders are one of the signs that spring is …Read More »Water Bears: why my yard is like the moon
by Tim Pearce Water bears, also known as tardigrades or moss piglets, are microscopic animals, famous for being cute and nearly indestructible. …Read More »
May 2 – May 7: Help Identify Other Observations!
The Great Roly-Poly
April showers may bring May flowers, but they also create the perfect moist conditions for one of my favorite garden residents—the humble …Read More »Field Guides: An Introduction
How do we identify birds? Some, like this Northern Cardinal, are easy because they are very distinctive. Others, like this lineup of …Read More »Collected on this Day in 1998: Spontaneous mints in your backyard
by Mason Heberling This specimen of purple dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum) was collected on April 17, 1998 by Kevin McGowan and Meggan Scanlon …Read More »
