Fears the monarch butterfly population's dwindling as it becomes more difficult to spot them

During winter, monarchs seek safety in numbers, and cluster together in tall trees.

But so far this year, there's only been reports of nests in several Christchurch parks.

Moth and Butterfly Trust founding trustee Jacqui Knight says finding their nesting areas is becoming harder.

She says every year less monarchs are being spotted in New Zealand and it's getting harder to locate them in winter.

People can report sightings on the iNaturalist NZ website.