iNaturalist is a great, free tool to help you identify unknown plants or animals. This post explains what it is and how to use it.
I love exploring New Zealand, especially visiting a new area I haven’t been to before and finding new species. The country has amazing landscapes and trails from the Mt. Taranaki and Mt. Ruapehu in the North Island to the South Island’s Abel Tasman and southern alps. One of the fun parts of exploring is coming across new trees, birds or insects that I’ve never seen before. Then I get to learn more about this special country. iNaturalist is the best tool I’ve found to help learn what those new species are.
What is iNaturalist?
iNaturalist is a website that helps you identify the plants and animals around you. It was started in 2008 in California and has grown and improved since that time. It is comprised of a huge community of citizen scientists, professional scientists, and others interested in nature from around the world (as a friend would say, nature nerds). Anyone can use it to help learn what a plant or animal is.
How Does iNaturalist Work?
People join the site and then make observations. The observations are then given suggested identifications by other members.
In order to use the site, the first step is to register, which is free. The next step is to upload your observations.
iNaturalist Has an App
I just want to point out that there is also an app that you can download onto your phone. The app makes it easy to observe something when you are out. Simply click on the app, then click on ‘observe’. Next choose camera and take a photo. Once you are back in wifi you need to upload the observation to your computer.
Who Is Identifying the Species?
iNaturalist is a worldwide community of citizen and professional scientists. The community of members includes a broad range of experts across many different fields of study. In New Zealand some of the most prominent experts are on the site and offer their time to help identify species.
Keep in mind that most of the people making identifications are knowledgable, it does not mean that everyone does. Wait until you get identifications from several people and then you’ll know what plant or animal you’ve seen.
What Should Be Included In The Observations?
In order to really help you identify the species of plant, fungi or animal, you should be sure to note a few things. Take one or more photos. If you are looking for a tree, try and get a photo of the leaf, trunk, possibly flower or seed. If you observed fungi, get photos from different angles.
You also need to know the location as that will help the identifiers. You can do this manually or it will happen automatically if your camera records the location of the photo (that is easiest).
You also need to list the day and time of day and you can write any other notes about the observation.
Then What Happens?
After you have submitted your observation, either on the app and it’s synced or on a laptop, then you simply wait for others to suggest an identification of it.
When you login to iNaturalist you will see your dashboard. Your dashboard displays lots of informations, such as your observations, what others have commented on your observation or see their suggested identifications.
You can also choose to follow people so that when they make new observations you will see them.