Sandy Eisele was among the many participants who joined monarch tagging this year (photo by Mark Martin).
Monarch tagging is really the perfect activity. It allows us to pursue major goals at Goose Pond Sanctuary and aligns nicely with the mission of Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance (SoWBA). We get to contribute to meaningful research, advise other conservation organizations based on our data, educate the public, and have a whole lot of fun. I’ve been catching butterflies since I was tiny, and the fact that it’s now incorporated into my professional career is almost ridiculous!
Number of monarchs tagged in our program (graph by Graham Steinhauer/SoWBA).
This season we tagged 236 monarchs at Goose Pond and partners tagged an additional 176 butterflies on other lands. This means we’ve tagged 8,556 monarchs at Goose Pond since 2012 and our partners have tagged 2,129 in the same period for a grand total of 10,685 tagged monarchs. That’s a fantastic number, but maybe even more impressive is the number of folks that share experiences with us every season while focusing on this iconic species.
At Goose Pond, SoWBA’s tagging and educational sessions had 115 participants, and we hosted more sessions with the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin (52), Discovery Charter School (37), and Poynette High School (38). That’s 242 people of all ages, and that number doesn’t even include group leaders, partners, or people who volunteered to tag on their own! Attendees had a great time learning about monarchs, tagging them, and just exploring the prairie. Almost all of those people were new to monarch tagging and didn’t have a benchmark on numbers present, but a few returning folks expressed some concern. And for good reason.
Hectares occupied by monarch butterflies at their roost sites in Mexico (graph courtesy of Monarch Watch).
Monarchs roost in fir trees on their wintering grounds in Mexico (photo by Lori Nordstrom/USFWS).
Note that on the “Total Monarchs Tagged” graph above, our yearly tags have been trending downward since 2019. Our tagging effort has been essentially the same since then, so this decline is primarily driven by monarch abundance at Goose Pond. Monarch Watch, the organization that sells the tags and collects all of the tag data in eastern North America, counts the number of hectares occupied by monarchs on their roost sites in Mexico during the winter. Why hectares? Well, it’s nearly impossible to count monarchs when they’re coating essentially every tree in a small section of forest. Their data indicates that monarch populations have been declining since 2019, with the winter of 2023–2024 being the second lowest level on record (see graph to the right). We know from this dataset that monarchs do have the capacity to bounce back, but they need our attention now more than ever.
Fortunately, anyone can help monarchs in several ways.
Probably the most personally satisfying avenue is to plant species that attract monarchs. Milkweed species should be at the top of the list, as monarchs only lay their eggs on milkweed and it’s all that the emerging caterpillars can eat. Butterfly milkweed and swamp milkweed are particularly colorful in landscaping projects. Fall blooming plant species are also great because they fuel monarch migration. Our data show that meadow blazingstar, showy goldenrod, and New England aster are solid choices, with meadow blazingstar being hands down the best for attracting monarchs to home gardens. Another group of plants I want to highlight that almost no one talks about with regard to monarchs are those that provide spring nectar resources. Picture the area around your home in May when monarchs are arriving. Is there anything blooming at all? Maybe some dandelions? This time period is critical for monarchs to begin building their populations over the summer. Spiderwort, Canada anemone, white baptisia, and perhaps most importantly, prairie phlox, all flower during this time.
A class from Discovery Charter School helps collect common milkweed pods at Goose Pond (photo by Carolyn Byers/SoWBA).
If gardening isn’t your top choice you can also educate your friends and family, support monarch-friendly initiatives, and (shameless plug) help us collect seed. Every year we distribute at least 100 pounds of free milkweed seed across Wisconsin. We also plant new prairie and enhance our existing habitat for monarchs and all sorts of creatures that need our help too.
Thanks so much to all of our volunteer group leaders and partners who assisted with monarch tagging this year, including Laura Anderson, Bob and Gerry Bennicoff, Kathie Brock (Pleasant Valley Conservancy), Curt Caslavka (Pope Farm Conservancy), Janet Flynn, Sara Kehrli, Jim Otto, Ruth Smith, and Greg Tiedt.
Written by Graham Steinhauer, Goose Pond Sanctuary land steward.
