Monarch Tagging

Name: Monarch Tagging
Start: 2025-09-14T09:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-09-14T12:00:00-05:00
Location: Lauritzen Botanical Gardens

Schedule

Sun Sep 14 2025 at 09:00 am to 12:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Lauritzen Botanical Gardens | Omaha, NE

Join AAZK (American Association of Zoo Keepers) Omaha Chapter and become a "citizen scientist" in our fifth annual Monarch tagging event hosted at Lauritzen Gardens from 9 AM to Noon. We will be joined by our friend and guest speaker Professor Ted Burk.
Each fall Monarch Watch distributes more than a quarter of a million tags to thousands of volunteers across North America who tag monarchs as they migrate through their area. These "citizen scientists" capture monarchs throughout the migration season, record the tag code, tag date, gender of the butterfly, and geographical location then tag and release them. At the end of the tagging season, the data provided by the "citizen scientists" are then submitted to Monarch Watch and added to our database to be used in research.
When the late summer and early fall Monarchs emerge from their pupae, or chrysalides, they are biologically and behaviorally different from those emerging in the summer. The shorter days and cooler air of late summer trigger changes. Even though these butterflies look like summer adults, they won't mate or lay eggs until the following spring. Instead, their small bodies prepare for a strenuous flight. Otherwise solitary animals, they often cluster at night while moving ever southward. If they linger too long, they won't be able to make the journey; because they are cold-blooded, they are unable to fly in cold weather.
The peak Monarch migration for Omaha is estimated to be around September 8th- 20th this year. We will tag on Sunday, the 14th at Lauritzen Gardens. Free for Garden Members and daily admission for Non-members. Tags and nets will be provided.