About
Why Little Wings exists
Little Wings started with a simple idea: monarch caterpillars eat only milkweed, so plant more milkweed. It began by mailing free milkweed seeds to anyone who asked, and by sending seed packets to schools. Today it shares real monarch data, told clearly, so anyone can see what is happening to these butterflies and what they can do about it.
Danaus plexippus late summer
Our story
From seed packets to data
Little Wings was started by Michael Halbmeier, the founder of Clear Digital, a digital marketing agency. Mike has spent more than 24 years in digital marketing. In the words of the original site: “We need to help the monarch butterfly so that future generations can enjoy the sight of seeing this beautiful butterfly.”
Little Wings was listed alongside groups like Monarch Watch as a place to get free milkweed seed, and its school program appeared in community resources such as Sagamok Anishnawbek’s Memengwaa (Butterfly) Day. The seed and school programs have now ended, and Little Wings carries on as a data site.
The beginning · 2019
Free milkweed seed for anyone
Little Wings mailed free packets of milkweed seed to anyone who asked, with an optional donation.
Schools · 2020
Thirty packets for every class
Schools that signed up received 30 packets of milkweed seed to plant or share, and a spot on the Little Wings pollinator map of Canada.
The first few weeks · 2021
Nine pollinator gardens
With no paid advertising, the project helped start nine pollinator gardens.
2026
Real data, told clearly
The seed and school programs end, and Little Wings becomes a data site: monarch records from scientists and volunteers, told for readers of every age, with a corner just for kids.
What Little Wings does today
Three ways in
Data anyone can read
Real monarch data from scientists and volunteers, told clearly in interactive stories with their sources.
A corner for kids
A life cycle explorer, colouring pages, a word search and a matching game for young readers.
Ways to help
Find the native milkweed that grows where you live, and join community science projects that count monarchs.
How we work
Three promises
Real data only
Every chart uses real records from scientists, governments and volunteers. Each one names its source, and the Data and credits page lists them all.
Honest about limits
Sightings are reports, not counts. Models are not measurements. We say so on every chart where it matters.
Free for everyone
No ads and no paywall. Copy is written for readers from grade 5 up, with a corner just for kids.
In Mike's words
Monika Halbmeier was always looking to the positive, happy things that life had to offer. Her biggest loves in life were her husband, her kids and grand-kids. She lived in Burlington, Ontario. There, in that small bungalow with a large beautiful yard, they raised 3 children.
She loved the many animals that came to their garden – birds of all shapes and sizes singing sweet songs, rabbits cheerfully bounding along, chipmunks with full cheeks, squirrels and their fluffy tails, and even the occasional deer that would walk out of the forest that backed onto their property and into the backyard! What brought her the most joy however were the tiny hummingbirds that came to the feeder all summer long, and the monarch butterflies that would dance around the garden.
Over the years however we all noticed the number of monarch butterflies that came to our garden were decreasing. We believe she would be proud to know of our efforts, and yours, to help save the monarch butterfly. She also felt strongly about helping the little things in the world that needed support, the ones that needed help, and those that don’t have a voice of their own.
For those that were fortunate enough to have known her, Monika inspired all those around her with warmth, and love. This feeling of warmth and love never wavered even through her 10-year long battle with colon cancer. She fought right until the end.
Little Wings has been established to honour her legacy, and to start a journey to help save the monarch butterfly so future generations can enjoy their beauty.
With much love, Little Wings is dedicated to Monika Halbmeier.
Michael Halbmeier,
Founder
Get in touch
Questions, corrections, or monarch data to share?
Contact: helplittlewings@gmail.com