The patriarch of Chicago’s piping plover family was seen taking off from Montrose Beach on Saturday morning and was spotted at his winter home near Galveston, Texas, a mere 53 hours later.

The Route 66 Monarch Flyway in Illinois aims to breath new life into small towns while providing critical habitat for the imperiled butterfly.

Nearly 200,000 people downloaded an app, Cicada Safari, created by researchers to track observations of Brood X. Scientists will be reaping the rewards of that communal effort for years to come.

If crack-of-dawn birding isn’t your thing, maybe give under-the-cover-of-darkness moth-watching a try this weekend at Indian Ridge Marsh. 

A year after being taken to task by the city’s Office of Inspector General for inefficient weed-clearing practices, the Department of Streets and Sanitation has made some improvements but still has work to do, according to a follow-up report released last week.

Reports of sick and dying birds have tapered off since first coming to light in late spring. Illinois was not affected and wildlife officials reiterated that it's OK to have bird feeders and baths in outdoor spaces — just be sure to keep them clean. 

Nearly 600 million birds are killed annually in North America due to collisions with buildings. A new Illinois law mandates bird-friendly design for state buildings.

The newest members of Chicago’s growing piping plover family have names. Meet Siewka (pronounced Shivka), which is the Polish word for “plover,” and Imani, the word for “faith” in Swahili. 

The Chicago Bungalow Association has announced the winners of its fifth annual garden contest, with winners spread across the city’s extensive bungalow belt.

The big reveal will take place at a beachside ceremony with representatives from the Chicago Piping Plovers Team and members of its name-selection committee. Find out how you can tune in virtually.

At a farm just north of the city, trainers are working to preserve an art form on display at the Tokyo Olympics. We visit Tempel Farms to see the Lipizzan stallions they’re teaching to dance.

Monitoring stations have been set up at various parks and preserves in the Chicago region for visitors to snap photos, which are then stitched together in a time-lapse series to document environmental changes. 

Moths have been nabbing international headlines of late, thanks to a declaration by the Entomological Society of America that the gypsy moth is no more. The destructive insect hasn’t gone extinct, but it’s common name has been mothballed.

They are often thought of as a nondescript bugs — or even pests — and are misunderstood in large part because of their nocturnal behavior. But moths are excellent pollinators and play a key role in the food web. Here’s what else you should know about moths’ incredible diversity.

Despite its diminutive size, the butterfly famed for its iridescent wings is a giant within the conservation movement, cited as the first case of an insect extinction that can be attributed to urban development.

Two days after welcoming three healthy chicks, Chicago’s beloved piping plovers added a fourth hatchling to their growing family, thanks to a little help from wildlife officials.