Citizen science
Your sightings are useful beyond your own records. This page explains how to observe monarchs without harming them, and how to pass your observations to the organisations that study the migration.
Monarch Tracker keeps your sightings in this app's own database. Nothing is sent to any outside organisation automatically — sharing is always your choice.
To contribute, export your sightings as a spreadsheet from the sightings page and use it to fill in the programme's own form. Keeping your notes here first means you always have the date, place, count and photo to hand.
Observing safely and responsibly
Wings, eggs and caterpillars are easily damaged. Observe from a step or two back and let the butterfly decide when to move. Never move a caterpillar off its host plant.
Don't pick, prune or trample the plants monarchs are using. A single milkweed leaf may hold eggs you cannot see.
Use zoom rather than getting close, skip the flash, and never chill, net or reposition a butterfly for a better picture. A tag code can usually be read from a photo.
Tagging is done through organised programmes with supplied tags and training. If you find a tagged monarch, note the code and report it — don't remove the tag.
At coastal California groves and the Mexican reserves, stay on marked trails, keep voices low and follow guides. Cold, clustered monarchs cannot escape disturbance.
Write down what you actually saw, including uncertainty. "Sex not known" is far more useful to researchers than a guess.
Where to submit your sightings
Each programme collects something slightly different. Pick the one that matches what you recorded — or submit to more than one.
First-arrival and roost sightings that track the migration in real time
Create a free account, choose the monarch sighting type (adult, egg, larva, roost or milkweed), and enter the date, place and count. Journey North maps reports as the season unfolds.
Visit Journey NorthFall tagging programme and recovered-tag reports
Order a tagging kit before the fall season if you want to take part, and report any tag code you find — even on a dead butterfly — through their tag recovery form.
Visit Monarch WatchRepeated milkweed surveys for eggs and caterpillars
Register a monitoring site, then survey the same milkweed patch weekly through the breeding season and enter egg and larva counts. Training materials are provided online.
Visit Monarch Larva Monitoring ProjectGeneral verifiable records with photos, anywhere in the world
Upload your photo with its date and location; the community confirms the identification and research-grade records flow on to biodiversity databases.
Visit iNaturalistThanksgiving and New Year counts at California overwintering groves
Volunteers are trained to count clustered monarchs at a specific grove during set count windows. Sign up through the coordinators before the season.
Visit Western Monarch CountMigration and breeding in Arizona and the desert southwest
Report sightings and tag recoveries through their online forms; tagging volunteers are trained regionally.
Visit Southwest Monarch StudyThese are independent organisations with their own accounts, rules and seasons. Monarch Tracker is not affiliated with any of them; always follow the guidance on their own sites.