Wildlife

Sep
01
The tight spiral of a sunset-color-streaked shell pushes out of damp beach sand.

Beaches Are Strewn with Scraps from a Ravenous Feast

Witness the detritus of one of the city's most voracious predators, the moon snail.
3 min read
Aug
03
A monarch butterfly opens its wings while feeding from milkweed flowers, a fire hydrant looms in the background.

Milkweed Blooms Draw Monarchs

On a hill of former trash, monarch butterflies find a haven.
3 min read
Jul
20
A lizard clings to a wooden fence rail.

Lizards Bask In a Haven of Their Own Making

New York City’s only state park preserve exists thanks to a lizard once released as snake food.
3 min read
Jul
07
Specks of firefly illumination pepper the grassy expanse of a cemetery at sunset.

Fireflies in Multitudes Signal Their Desires

As the sun sets on the warmest nights of summer the air becomes alive with blinking lights.
2 min read
Jun
14
Eight horseshoe crabs emerge from the waves onto the beach. Many are covered in barnacles and males are latched to females.

Horseshoe Crabs Lay Eggs Under a Full Moon

Weaving between discarded dogfish heads and tampon applicator flotsam, they are crawling.
3 min read
May
12
A particularly cute puffball of a shorebird with a tiny beak and big eyes patrols the Rockaway sands.

Piping Plovers On the Beach

Some of the city’s tiniest annual visitors have arrived to enjoy our shores, but they face formidable challenges.
3 min read
Apr
06
A pair of mourning doves sits atop a fire escape railing, looking out over several adjoining backyards.

The Morning Croon of Mourning Doves

Lie there, listening, as the morning chorus of backyard birds swells.
2 min read
Mar
31
A small frog perched on some leaves faces away from the camera, peering off into darkness.

Lusty Heralds Call Into the Twilight

The spring peepers have defrosted to haunt the shores of ephemeral vernal pools.
2 min read
Mar
16
A brown butterfly's wings are fringed with drops of blue and fringed in ivory.

The Grand Surprise of the First Butterfly

Winter has left us all a bit bedraggled around the edges.
3 min read
Feb
08
A woodchuck sits in wood chips outside a groundhog-sized log cabin. A sign over its door reads "S. I. Chuck."

Groundhogs Sleep Soundly With Hearts Slowed

Take inspiration from the woodchuck—one of our city's few truly hibernating mammals.
2 min read