Wildlife of Chicago, Illinois
Chicago's lakefront concentrates one of the largest inland migrations of shorebirds and warblers in North America, with Montrose Point in particular famous for its spring fallouts. Remnant tallgrass prairie and oak savanna around the metro support sandhill cranes, bobolinks and huge stopovers of monarch butterflies each fall.
Best timeMay for lakefront warblers, September for monarch and shorebird migration.
- 1Chicago is on the Mississippi flyway — 250 bird species pass through Montrose Point each year.
- 2Coyotes have been documented living in Chicago's Loop.
- 3Monarchs pause at Lake Michigan shorelines during their southward migration.
Signature species
Curated for Chicago, Illinois, each tagged with its IUCN Red List status.
- NT
Piping plover
Charadrius melodus
Nesting at Montrose Beach.
- NT
Kirtland's warbler
Setophaga kirtlandii
- EN
Blanding's turtle
Emydoidea blandingii
- VU
Monarch butterfly
Danaus plexippus
- LC
Coyote
Canis latrans
IUCN codes — EX extinct · EW extinct in wild · CR critically endangered · EN endangered · VU vulnerable · NT near threatened · LC least concern · DD data deficient
Dos & don'ts
Local etiquette that keeps wildlife wild.
Do
- Turn off lights during migration — Chicago is a top-3 bird-collision city.
- Plant milkweed for monarchs.
- Keep distance — use zoom or binoculars, never bait animals closer.
- Stay on marked trails to avoid trampling nests, burrows and plants.
Don't
- Don't fence off the Montrose Beach plover area.
- Don't approach coyote dens in Lincoln Park.
- Never feed wildlife — human food changes behaviour and shortens lives.
- Don't share exact locations of nests, dens or rare species online.
Spotted here lately
Live from iNaturalist — research-grade observations within 40km, last 30 days.
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