how to Participate

To participate, you need to have an iNaturalist account- go to iNaturalist.org and sign up or log in. Below are links to tutorials and a quick start guide to help get you going.

help and tutorials

• A detailed instructions on using the Identify Tool.
• Watch a video tutorial,
• Explore the Identify Help section on iNaturalist.
• Read a Tech Tip Tuesday article

Filter Links for Some Items to Identify

• All species-level observations labeled as Needs ID. From Sugar Maple to White-tailed Deer, common to rare, there are thousands here that need to be examined.
• Sound recordings that are labeled as Needs ID.

Some Tips and Considerations

• You don’t have to ID an observation to species. If adding an ID level of family or genus improves it, please add those if you don’t know the species. This helps others find the observation easily and make an identification.
• Anyone that can reliable identify a few things can help! Even if it already has one verification, more IDs make it stronger! And you might find mistakes.
• Take your time and make sure your identification in your mind is likely 100% correct.
• The ability to add comments to observations allows us to ask the observer more questions if needed, suggest ways they might correct an observation, or even just let them know you like a photo or observation. Create more community with discussions.
• You can add annotations to the observations in iNaturalist too to make the data even more valuable!

QUICK START: how to use the identification tool

1. When you are logged into iNaturalist, navigate to the Identify tab.

2. Use the filter tab to sort observations by region, taxonomic group, date, etc., to curate the observations you want to identify, and click Update Search. For this challenge, filter the location to the state of Vermont (as seen below), or to a region in Vermont.

Tip: Adding identifications, even if they are broad (i.g. bird, plant, snake), to observations uploaded as “Unknown” is important. This helps people who filter Identify by taxonomic group to find these observations. Under Filters -> Categories, select the last icon (sporting a question mark in the center) to filter for observations uploaded as Unknown.

3. Click on the first observation. A pop-up will open (see below), allowing you to toggle through the media provided for the observation (left side) and provide identifications, annotations, and view metadata (right side). To agree with the current identification, click “Agree.” To suggest a different identification, click “Add ID.” Once you are done, click the arrow on the side of the pop-up to take you to the next observation. If you are unsure of whether the identification is correct, do not click Agree! It is okay to skip observations if you need.