Monarch Migration in Ontario

Join our province-wide, citizen science investigation to uncover #MonarchMysteries during the migration through Ontario!

Monarch migration is one of nature’s greatest wonders. Near summer’s end, these gorgeous butterflies begin to migrate from breeding habitat in Ontario to their overwintering grounds in Mexico. This southbound migration is completed by a single monarch generation, called the 'supergeneration', who travel approximately 3000 km from Ontario to Mexico.

In Ontario, we still need to know more about the migratory routes and habits of monarchs. We need your assistance to collect information about migratory monarchs! Your observations will be used to develop scientific models to help predict the locations of monarch fly-ways and where roosts occur throughout Ontario. Knowledge of the migratory routes and roosting habits of monarchs will help us direct resources to aid this at-risk species.

In other words, you’re contributing to a critical research project and your efforts will aid in conservation and restoration efforts to help migratory monarchs!

How to participate in the investigation

1. Join the project to become a member.
2. Locate and submit observations of monarchs and monarch roosts across Ontario.

We welcome all monarch observations, not just those of roosting monarchs.

What to observe

Common Name: Monarch butterfly
Scientific Name: Danaus plexippus
Order: Lepidoptera

What are monarch roosts and where can I find them?

Monarchs are diurnal migrants, meaning they migrate during the day. At night, migratory monarchs roost on trees or shrubs and often form large groups of butterflies. These roosts are usually near meadows or other habitat that provides good foraging opportunities for the monarchs so they can feed and gain the energy required to complete their migration.

Based on our current knowledge of monarch roosts in Ontario, roosts are typically found in proximity to the Great Lakes but they can be found anywhere with suitable habitat in southern and eastern Ontario. Locations such as Point Pelee on Lake Erie and Presqu’ile on Lake Ontario are good places to spot monarch roosts.

The best times to look for roosts are evenings and mornings. Monarch roosts can be a single individual to many hundreds or thousands of individuals.

Please note that observations must be added manually to this project because of the required Observation Fields. These Observation Fields help us gain valuable insight by differentiating between migrating monarchs and roosting monarchs. Here’s how to upload a monarch observation to our project…

Using the website:

1. Join the project if you have not already done so.
2. Do not upload the observation the way you normally would. Instead, go to our project page and click the red “Add observations”. This is the only way it will display the required observation fields to upload online.
3. In the “Species name” field, start typing Monarch and click on the suggested species when it appears.
4. On the right of that screen below “Add photos” click browse and navigate to the photo. Make sure to click “sync obs. w/ photo metadata (that will add the timestamp and location if taken with a GPS enabled device).
5. If not on a GPS enabled device, use the map to click on the spot where you observed it, or if you know the coordinates, write them in space provided above the map
6. Fill out the observations fields.
7. Click Save.

How to add an existing observation on the web:

1. Join the project if you have not already done so.
2. Click “Your Observations” tab at the top of the webpage.
3. Go to the monarch observation you’d like to add and scroll down to the ‘Projects’ tab on the right.
4. In the ‘Add to a project’ field, type ‘Monarch Migration in Ontario’ and click on the project when it appears.
5. Fill in the required Observation Fields.
6. Click 'Add to project'.

Using the app:

1. Join the project if you have not already done so – there is sometimes a lag between when you’ve joined the project and it shows up in your projects list in the app.
2. When creating a new observation, fill in the date and location fields.
3. Tap “Add to project”. This will display the observation fields. Please fill these in.
4. Tap save or the green checkmark.

How to add an existing observation on the app:

1. Join the project if you have not already done so – there is sometimes a lag between when you’ve joined the project and it shows up in your projects list in the app.
2. Go to the “My Observations” tab.
3. Tap on the monarch observation you’d like to add and hit the pencil or edit symbol at the top right. Scroll down to ‘Add to project(s)’. You can also search your observations by tapping on the magnifying glass and typing ‘monarch’ into the search bar.
4. When you tap on the ‘Add to project(s)’ field, a list of projects that you have joined will appear. Tap ‘Monarch Migration in Ontario’. Alternatively, you can type ‘Monarch Migration in Ontario’ into the field.
5. Once the Monarch project has been selected, a list of required Observation Fields will appear. Please fill these out and tap the checkmark or back arrow at the top of the screen. This will take you back to the monarch observation.
6. Finally, tap the green checkmark (or the green ‘SAVE’ on your iPhone). The observation will sync with iNaturalist.ca and be added to the project when you have an internet or data connection.

First time uploading to iNaturalist.ca? Check out the resources page for more information on how to get the most out of the platform.
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