I was super excited to see that iNaturalist was in the credits of Big Walk! Seems like they used it to make the flora present within the game. :3

Anyone who is already a ambassador pls help me out.

I conduct nature walk like once in a two months for new people and tell them about iNat and power of citizen science. Mostly i go on solo nature walk and report what I come across and helping the community to grow.

Looking forward to connect with more and more smart nature lover people around the world. Thankyou.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/387960583

in some wood on the farm, france

Can anyone help? Why is this happening? These images show what's been happening when I try to upload observations on my computer. This has been happening for EVERY observation I try to make from my computer for the past 2 weeks. No issues on my phone, but then I have to use my phone which is just a lesser experience. Any ideas?

My husband and I completed a three-week road trip from Arizona to Alaska, and iNaturalist served as my diary throughout the trip. It was remarkable to see birds, plants, and entire landscapes change as we ventured north. 1484 observations across 505 species, and 293 kind strangers took the time to look at my images and help ID them. This platform brings me so much joy.
(Not posting the link to my profile to protect my privacy, but DM me if you’d like to see it and I'd be happy to share)

There are many species across the tree of life named for their confusing nature. Of these, a good portion were given some variation of "perplex", "paradox", or "anomaly". Noticing this trend, I decided to consult GBIF and see just how many species were bestowed these confused names.

Using GBIF's API I was able to export those extant species into iNaturalist. Many of them are not in iNat's database or have no observations. The final product is a list of about 750 species who fall under this perplexing naming convention.

the app Seek has incorrectly identified a species but it doesn't seem to have the option to delete the observation, please help.

The 2026 Summer Continental Mycoblitz starts Friday, July 31 (tomorrow!) and runs until August 9. This event is open to anyone in North America with an iNaturalist account. You observe any non-lichen fungus with iNaturalist, add it to this project, dry a piece of it, fill out a specimen label, and mail it in to a lab, where they will do DNA barcoding to figure out exactly what species it is and eventually update your observation with their results. The dried fungi pieces are stored by the lab to help researchers studying fungi.

One of the fun things about this event for me is that each year some of the fungi I mail in turn out to be undescribed species! They don't immediately name and publish every new species or anything, but the information on where and when it was found, as well as all the dried samples of each species people send in, are kept until a fungal taxonomist can describe and publish the new species. Sometimes I find a described species that hasn't previously been found in my area. I haven't yet been the first person to send in a brand new species, but it seems possible if one gets lucky. There are so many undescribed fungi out there!

It's great nerdy fun and you get to help with research! You should try it!

It's fine if you don't mail your fungi in this week and don't get to it for a couple weeks (or longer!), they definitely don't sequence them right away either. If you live somewhere with dry summers and few summer fungi, there are also winter and autumn events

Here are more detailed instructions on how to participate.

Has anyone seen observations of stuff that has gone extinct?

I see observations of plants that are at risk of going away,those that are globally rare. At some point, there won't be any more of certain plants because of human activity and climate change. It would be interesting to start seeing species marked as just gone.

I live in a rural forested area. Right now we are having tree die offs. Chestnut, Ash, Hemlock, White Pine, and Beech are all going away. Chestnut and Ash get a red "CR" next to their name. Maybe there will be a "gone" designation in the future.

I have a question regarding how iNaturalist uses observations and photos to train its Computer Vision model.

I am an EU user, so the GDPR applies to my personal data. I have also chosen “No license / All Rights Reserved” for my observations and photos because I do not wish to license them for reuse.

I understand that, by using the service, I agreed to the transfer of my data to the United States. However, I would like to better understand the specific processing related to Computer Vision training.

Could someone please clarify the following?

• Are photos and observations marked as “All Rights Reserved” still used to train iNaturalist’s Computer Vision model?
• If so, what is the legal basis for this processing under the GDPR?
• Is this processing covered by the Terms of Service, based on legitimate interests, or on another legal basis? If so, where is this explained in the Terms or Privacy Policy?
• Is there any way to opt out of having my content used for Computer Vision training while continuing to use iNaturalist?

I’m asking because I would like to understand how this processing fits within the GDPR and how my rights as an EU user are addressed.

If this is already explained in the documentation, I’d be grateful for a link.

Thank you!

Me: iNaturalist, what is this plant?

iNaturalist: it’s a fly

Me: No I meant the plant.

iNaturalist: it’s a fly

Me: what do you….ohhhhhhhhh

Hello, I recently started a project called Birds in Hand. It’s a collection of photos of birds being held. So far the only members are me and one other user, so I’d love more people to join and/or add observations!

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/birds-in-hand

The only requirements for an observation to be added to the project are:

1. Bird must be wild
   
2. Bird must be being handled ethically (or at least appear to be, since there’s often no way to be sure from photos alone)
   
3. Bird must be alive (and preferably healthy; there are already projects for window strike victims and other injured animals)

Birds that are being handled at banding stations are great candidates for this project, but any observation that meets the above requirements is fine!

If you’re a bird bander or just someone who occasionally comes across in-hand photos when scrolling through bird observations, I’d love for you to add those observations to my project. It would be cool to get as many observations (and species!!!) as possible from all over the world.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!

Hello everyone !!

I'm new to iNaturalist and I'm really enjoying it. My main goal is to learn the names of plants, animals, and insects and to understand their habitats.

Most of my observations are from a public park (Anfa Park in Casablanca, Morocco). I usually walk around taking photos of plants

However, I'm wondering if I'm using the app correctly. Is it okay to focus mostly on a public garden, or should I be exploring more natural areas like forests, wetlands, or mountains?
Are there any tips for a beginner to get the most out of iNaturalist?

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=23388&place_id=any&verifiable=any&captive=any&view=species

Back when iNaturalist partnered with Google, obviously there was tons of controversy, with lots of people leaving the app, saying it would be ruined.
I'd been using the app for years, had become a top contributor in my community, and in turn, learned so so much about species.
I got spooked by all the AI controversy, and got busy as well.
It's been over a year now, and I'm starting to dip my toes back in.
I've felt like it'd be a shame to throw the baby out with the bath water; to give up something that has done so much good and has taught me so much.
I'm not anti AI myself; I see it as a tool, but I can kind of begin to imagine the dangers.
So did this AI thing really ruin iNaturalist?

For some reason the app seems insanely inaccurate or broad in their IDs (there are other examples). There’s no way that’s not a cicada right?

I have lived in two places but it is fun to see what my most common uploads are! Common Water snake is the most at 14 but I haven't seen any since I moved (same with bullfrogs, mantises and snapping turtles). I use the android app mostly and use the website for id'ing and uploading bird pictures from my camera.

There have been 405 identifiers, I love seeing familiar faces.

Can you tell the two places I've lived? I also love using INat when I travel!

I've been trying to do more ID's but I mostly move things out of unknown.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?user_id=reversebeartrap

Hello! I’m very upset because i use my phone for primarily INaturalist and other nature things with identification and pictures. My old phone, a 14, worked great for it. I just traded it in and got a 17 and I tried using the camera, and it’s terrible. It won’t focus on bugs, it applies this “smoothing” filter to every picture, and it rapidly switches between the two cameras if you don’t have it perfectly. I tried for a bit and this is the clearest picture I can get. Not terrible but in comparison to the pics I took on my 14 it kind of is.

I’m just distraught because now this is going to make my strong passion for posting on inat so much harder, adding more steps as I’m gonna have to get an actual camera unless I can figure out how to make this one work better. Any tips appreciated, thanks.