Diario del proyecto City Nature Challenge 2021: Chicago Metro

Happy last day of the CNC observation period! A bit windy but we lucked out with an early spring and otherwise excellent weather! Today is a little more dreary but still good iNatting weather for most of the day. The 2021 City Nature Challenge observation period ends tonight at midnight (local time) and our collective results will be announced May 10th.

The Chicago metro region project is sitting at over 9000 observations and 900 observers: significantly more participation than previous years.

I've been seeing so many people help out with identification! Interested in dipping your toes in the iNat identification process? Why not try:

• 528 observations that have no ID at all
• 473 observations at rank "order" or coarser
• 387 plants are stuck at rank family or coarser
• help folks ID the planted/cultivated plants in their neighborhood - these 133 observations are at rank genus or coarser
• know any mushroom or lichen pros? these 173 observations need help with ID
• 107 herps could use a look
• 490 spiders, insects, and other arthropods waiting for an ID
• ID all 4843 observations, sorted at random

A particularly beautiful American robin (Turdus migratorius) observed by @onthelabel in Lake County, Indiana.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76336665

Keep an eye on these links below for any documentations that are a first for the Chicago metro region on iNaturalist in 2021. These aren't necessarily totally newly documented for the region, just the first time they've been added to iNaturalist for the region (still cool!).

You'll often find species on here that are the result of computer vision errors as well as observations that should be marked captive/cultivated. Fixing these helps sort the wheat from the chaff and keeps range maps representative of wild organisms.

I've excluded casual observations here. Everything is split up into observose natural groups and then divided further when those groups have more than 500 taxa in the search results, due to the limitations of iNat's Compare tool.

Broad-billed hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris) observed by @skrentnyjeff
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77298506

Birds

• Broad-billed hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris) - view observations by @skrentnyjeff @paulroots @benzerante @brdnrdr and read more at this blog post on the Chicago Ornithological Society's website
• Zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) observed by @whernandez. One-off escapee? Grey area on iNaturalist. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76691808

Coleoptera except Cucujiformia (beetles)

• Amphicerus bicaudatus (apple twig borer) observed by @noah_finney at Pembroke Savanna (needs ID confirmation) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/75973478

Nematocera (nematoceran flies)

• Contarinia cerasiserotinae, a species of gall midge that forms swollen buds on black cherry (Prunus serotina), observed by @brdnrdr in Porter County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76965952

Hemiptera (true bugs)

• Trichicorixa, a genus of water boatmen beetles observed by @cicadaboy_7867 in Oak Brook https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76258937

Zale unilineata (one-lined zale) observed by @astridl

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77587189

Noctuoidea (owlet moths and friends)

• Catabena lineolata (fine-lined sallow) observed by @psweet in Lake County, IL https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77156461
• Zale unilineata (one-lined zale) observed by @astridl in DuPage County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77587189

Insects except the groups above and below

• Chimarra (little black caddisfly sp.) observed by @mcullenbailey https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76650790

Bourletiella hortensis (garden springtail) observed by @thomaseverest

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77084205

All other animals

• Bourletiella hortensis (garden springtail) observed by @thomaseverest in DuPage County https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77084205

Caryophyllales (pinks and friends)

• Deamia testudo (dog-tail cactus) observed by @skrentnyjeff and @psweet in Lake County, IL

Cymbalaria muralis (ivy-leaved toadflax) observed by @micahbowman

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76420008

Lamiales (mints and friends)

• Cymbalaria muralis (ivy-leaved toadflax) observed by @micahbowman, naturalized in Lake County, IL https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76420008

There were no newly documented species on iNat in the Chicago metro region during CNC 2021 (as of May 8th, 2021) for the following groups of species:

• Mammals
• Reptiles and amphibians
• Ray-finned fishes
• Cucujiformia (cucujiform beetles)
• Brachycera (brachyceran flies)
• Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, sawflies)
• Papilionoidea (butterflies)
• Bombycoidea (sphinx moths and friends)
• Geometroidea (geometer moths and friends)
• Pyraloidea (pyralid and crambid snout moths)
• Tortricoidea (tortricid leafroller moths and friends)
• Other moths than the groups listed above
• Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies)
• Arachnids
• Fungi without bacidiomycetes
• Basidiomycetes without Polyporales or Agaricales
• Agaricales
• Polyporales
• Non-flowering plants
• Poales (grasses, sedges, rushes, and friends)
• Monocots excluding Poales
• Apiales (carrots and friends)
• Asterales (sunflowers and friends)
• Boraginales (borages and friends)
• Brassicales (mustards and friends)
• Fabales (peas and friends)
• Fagales (beeches and friends)
• Gentianales (gentians and friends)
• Malpighiales (nances and friends)
• Ranunculales (buttercups and friends)
• Rosales (roses and friends)
• Solanales (tomatoes and friends)
• All other (eu)dicots except the groups above
• Other life (viruses, bacteria, slime molds, etc.)

But...check back on these links later as new identifications come in.

Add a "favorite" ⭐ to your favorite CNC 2021 observations by other people or post your own favorite findings in the comments section below!

Pro tip: on the Identify page, just press the f key to quickly fave an observation.

Just a few of my own faves so far:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76004028
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/75991744
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77180873
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/75961644
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76365426
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76959588
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77081938
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/75925771
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76842307
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76998547
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77395224
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77389402
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76426124
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76285193
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77887896
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77895186
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/75825111
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77304485
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76818085
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76436859
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/75886531
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/76965822

And that is a wrap! As of midnight last night (Chicago time), the City Nature Challenge 2021 came to a close.

Check out our collective global results here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2021 and keep an eye on the international project's journal for a summary to be posted soon there.

For the Chicago metro area, join a virtual celebration of urban nature tonight at 6PM. Lincoln Park Zoo and other regional conservation organizations will be wrapping up City Nature Challenge 2021 over Zoom. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lpz-virtual-bioblitz-city-nature-challenge-2021-registration-148834972409

Infographic text:
City Nature Challenge 2021: Chicago Metro
Between April 30th and May 3rd, 2021:
over 12,000 observations
over 1,000 observers
over 1,500 species
over 500 identifiers

Most-observed:
Animal: red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), photo by @greenoutdoors
Fungus: dryad's saddle (Cerioporus squamosus), photo by @athek0
Plant: prairie trillium (Trillium recurvatum), photo by @marensr

Most surprising:
broad-billed hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostrus)

All photos CC BY-NC, graphic by cassi saari (CC BY)
See everything we found at https://bit.ly/cncchi2021

Logos: City Nature Challenge 2021, iNaturalist, California Academy of Sciences, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Chicago Park District, Chicago Wilderness, Budburst: a project of the Chicago Botanic Garden, Shedd Aquarium, Chicago Ornithological Society, Northeast Chapter of the Illinois Native Plant Society

Interested in planning an event or having your organization participate in 2022? Shoot me an email at cassi.saari@chicagoparkdistrict.com and I will add you to our organizing email list.

See you next time!
—cassi

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