Chicago lives along Lake Michigan, and the lakefront is a migration superhighway. Warblers and sparrows pile into the parks each spring, peregrine falcons nest on the high-rises, and monarch butterflies stream through in fall. Fox squirrels and eastern cottontails hold the neighborhoods, coyotes have quietly moved into every part of the metro, and the restored prairies and the lakefront ponds bring in mallards, herons, and the occasional migrating loon.
Everything below is pulled live from recent research-grade observations near Chicago. Browse by group, explore the map, and identify what you find with Huck.
134,328
recent observations
30
species listed
17
birds
9
insects & arthropods
3
mammals
Naturalists have logged 134,328 research-grade observations across the 30 most-recorded species near Chicago. The most frequently seen is the Monarch, with 8,156 recorded sightings.
Birds account for the largest share of what gets recorded there (17 of the species listed here), followed by insects & arthropods (9).