{"id":284155,"date":"2026-04-24T18:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T18:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/284155\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T18:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T18:32:09","slug":"take-part-in-the-city-nature-challenge-snap-photos-and-help-science-nbc-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/284155\/","title":{"rendered":"Take part in the City Nature Challenge, snap photos, and help science \u2013 NBC Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

What to KnowCity Nature Challenge 2026April 24-27Snap a photo of any animals or plants you observe and share your findings on the iNaturalist appStarted in 2016 by the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the City Nature Challenge has recorded thousands of observations featuring local wildlife, flora, and fungi, all made by community scientistsThese findings help researchers reach fresh insights about the critters, growing things, and natural splendor just outside our doors<\/p>\n

It’s good to be that enthusiastic person that gets stoked, as in excited in an over-the-top way, because a Monarch butterfly alights on a nearby leaf.<\/p>\n

Hearing the distant throaty aaaa-wooo of a coyote or coming across a spray of California poppies in an unexpected place can also deliver a certain thrill.<\/p>\n

How, though, to share that deeply felt thrill on a wider basis, all while aiding researchers to better understand the leafy, chittering, fluttering world that is just beyond our doors?<\/p>\n

There is one route and participation is easy, free, and only takes a moment or two: It’s the City Nature Challenge<\/a>, a get-out-there effort presented by the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.<\/p>\n

Community scientists \u2014 that’s everyone who is out in the outdoors and observing what’s buzzing, scurrying, and aaaa-wooo-ing \u2014 are invited to snap a photo of the interesting plants, animals, and fungi they come across from April 24 through 27.<\/p>\n

If you do take a photo of a Monarch butterfly, a particularly fetching fir tree, or a Cooper’s Hawk, you’ll upload the image to iNaturalist.<\/p>\n

Just be sure what you are sharing is indeed wild. “Wild means it was not put there or cared for by humans, so pets, zoo animals, potted plants, and city trees do not count for the City Nature Challenge,” shares the Natural History Museum.<\/p>\n

This is an around-the-globe effort, so be encouraged by that knowledge. Someone who is somewhere far, far away is also feeling a thrill at spying a badger or strange bird or funky flower.<\/p>\n

Of course, you don’t have to look solely for the offbeat, though the challenge does yield rare findings, both flora and fauna, each year.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, your participation will “… help scientists track real-time changes in our planet’s biodiversity and better understand wildlife conservation.”<\/p>\n

Find out more on this simple-to-join, oh-so-uplifting campaign<\/a> to appreciate and understand the wild world around us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What to KnowCity Nature Challenge 2026April 24-27Snap a photo of any animals or plants you observe and share…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49,2268],"class_list":{"0":"post-284155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-la","9":"tag-la-headlines","10":"tag-la-news","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","13":"tag-los-angeles-news","14":"tag-nature"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}