Sign up for iNaturalist!
How to join in the fun: Get into nature and add your observations with a photo (or audio!) using the iNaturalist.org website or iPhone/Android app and it’ll show up on this leaderboard if it meets the rules below. Find all 30 species and rejoice in your victory!
Nature newbie and/or dumbphone user? No worries! We will help identify any plants and animals you see, and you can upload photos through the website without need for a smartphone. Just snap a photo and upload it to iNaturalist.org and identify as best as you can, even if that’s just “plant” or “turtle.” Here is a helpful guide with photos and descriptions of all the species on the list (and potential sighting locations ;).
Help others get to research grade by confirming their observations!
Rules
- Species must be on the 2016 Nature Scavenger Hunt List (download PDF)
- Observation must be within the Chicago Wilderness region
- Must be observed between the dates of January 1st, 2016 and August 1st, 2016
- Observation must be research grade. That means it must be “wild” and that you need a photo or audio, date, species identification, location, and for someone else to confirm your observation!
2016 Nature Scavenger Hunt List
| Group | Common Name | Scientific Name |
|---|---|---|
| Mammals | American Beaver | Castor canadensis |
| Mammals | Raccoon | Procyon lotor |
| Birds | Killdeer | Charadrius vociferus |
| Reptiles | Brown Snake | Storeria dekayi |
| Reptiles | Snapping Turtle | Chelydra serpentina |
| Amphibians | Blue-spotted Salamander | Ambystoma laterale |
| Amphibians | Fowler’s Toad | Anaxyrus fowleri |
| Amphibians | Western Chorus Frog | Pseudacris triseriata |
| Crustaceans | Rusty Crayfish | Orconectes rusticus |
| Insects | American Bumble Bee | Bombus pensylvanicus |
| Insects | Common Green Darner | Anax junius |
| Insects | Eastern Tailed-Blue | Cupido comyntas |
| Insects | Large Milkweed Bug | Oncopeltus fasciatus |
| Insects | Red Admiral | Vanessa atalanta |
| Plants | Bloodroot | Sanguinaria canadensis |
| Plants | Buttonbush | Cephalanthus occidentalis |
| Plants | Chairmaker’s Rush | Schoenoplectus pungens |
| Plants | Chinkapin Oak | Quercus muehlenbergii |
| Plants | Dutchman’s Breeches | Dicentra cucullaria |
| Plants | Eastern Black Walnut | Juglans nigra |
| Plants | Eastern Prickly Pear | Opuntia humifusa |
| Plants | Eastern Skunk Cabbage | Symplocarpus foetidus |
| Plants | Pennsylvania Sedge | Carex pensylvanica |
| Plants | Prairie Dock | Silphium terebinthinaceum |
| Plants | Shagbark Hickory | Carya ovata |
| Plants | Side-Oats Grama | Bouteloua curtipendula |
| Plants | Strawberry | Fragaria virginiana |
| Plants | Swamp Milkweed | Asclepias incarnata |
| Plants | Wild Lupine | Lupinus perennis |
| Fungi | Morel | Morchella esculenta |
Please let us (habitat2030@gmail.com) know if you have any questions, comments, or ideas!
