We are thrilled to share that Pittsburgh has come in 26th of nearly 70 cities that participated in the City Nature Challenge! It’s a friendly competition between cities around the world. Anyone can join by logging their outdoor observations on iNaturalist.org or with the iNaturalist app.
Matt Webb, Urban Bird Conservation Coordinator at Powdermill Nature Reserve, led Pittsburgh’s involvement in the challenge. It lasted four days, from April 27-30, and 165 Pittsburghers contributed observations.
Pittsburgh participants logged 4,393 observations of 847 species with iNaturalist.
The winning city, San Francisco, had 1,532 participants who logged 41,737 observations of 3,211 species.
Even though the competition is over, anyone may still log observations using iNaturalist. Download the free app to your phone, create an account, and photograph what you see outside. The GPS on your phone automatically logs in the date, time, and location of your photo. You may add information you already know about the plant, animal, or insect you photographed, then community members may contribute more information and confirm species identification. It’s all about having fun learning in nature.
To read more about Pittsburgh’s participation in the City Nature Challenge and Matt Webb, check out this feature in Allegheny Front.
