City Nature Challenge NYC: April 24-27
Today kicks off the 2026 City Nature Challenge, when cities around the world collaborate to share observations of nature. This annual four-day global bioblitz asks participants to find, photograph, and upload examples of organisms growing and living in the wild–that is, not put there and cared for by humans.
See the power of crowd-sourcing science in action by browsing through what’s been observed already!
Once all of the observations are added, scientists get to work identifying the organisms that have been added and tallying the number of different species. It’s a challenge but not a competition, and everyone wins!
Taking part is easy
Find Wildlife
It can be any WILD plant, animal, or any evidence of life found in your city. (Wild means that it wasn’t put there, and is not being taken care of by people.)
Take picture
Take a picture or record a sound of what you find. Be sure to note the location of the critter or plant.
Share!
Share your observations through iNaturalist or your city’s chosen platform.
Next Level Citizen Scientists
Want to flex your science skills? You can join our CUNY colleagues at Macaulay Honors College for their Virtual ID Party, on Thursday, April 30 at 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM EDT, as they host this session for scientists–or citizen scientists– interested in helping to identify species among the submitted observations.
More City Nature Challenge Events
Want to work with other citizen scientists? Check out the Event List for CNC:NYC 2026! But double-check before you go, since there’s rain expected this weekend.