iNaturalist

simonw

The iNaturalist API is an absolute gem. It doesn't require authentication for read-only operations and it has open CORS headers which means it's amazing for demos and tutorials. My partner and I built this website with it a few years ago: https://www.owlsnearme.com/ (I realize this is a bit on-brand for me but I also use it to track pelicans https://tools.simonwillison.net/species-observation-map#%7B%... )

two-sandwich

This was a lifesaver around 2020 for me, documenting local critters and chatting about them. I've had immense satifaction in sharing my excitement for wildlife with others. Great app, easy interface, friendly community. Thank you iNaturalist team!

daemonologist

iNaturalist is cool, but it'd be a lot cooler if they released their models.

JumpCrisscross

Similar category: Merlin Bird ID [1]. Uses audio to identify the birds around you. [1] https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

skyberrys

I send things too iNaturalist all the time, it's great, it really helped me learn about my local fauna. I want to do a project with their API to identify a couple hundred wildflower photos I've been hoarding. Would that work? ( Idea is my wildflower app could send to their models to confirm my original identification)

Beestie

This site was helpful in documenting the spread of lantern flies (invasive critters that damage trees on the U.S. East Coast) - the more folks that report sightings (of anything not just problem critters) the better for all concerned. Conversely, its also beneficial to report sightings of helpful bugs/birds/bats/etc. so can get an early warning when a population starts to thin out.

ray__

I love this app, but it's also a significant doxxing risk especially for the large number of non-technical users that it has. A quick look at the map reveals the home addresses and names of many iNaturalist users in my neighborhood, lots of them older folks that probably don't realize that adding all of the neat wildlife that they see in their backyard (or uploading things they see on remote hikes without any 3G coverage once their phone connects to their home wifi network) is also putting their home address on display by adding a cluster of photos right next to their house that are all attached to their account.

the_real_cher

This is like pro spider league.

preuceian

I’ve been using Observation.org (or rather its localized version Waarneming.nl) to record my hedgehog sightings. Should I use both platforms, or do these data points end up aggregated downstream anyway?

coalteddy

Does anyone know how they make their map so performant? Showing all those pins is mind blowing to me coming from leaflet maps. Marinetraffic is also a map that blows me away every time i see all the icons and how smooth and fast the loading is when zooming in. Would love to make a similar map at some point for my hobby but leaflet just does not cut it when you want to render 10million plus pins on a global map. Tech blogs or pointers would be great

bluebarbet

Also: WhoBird. A decent bird ID app that has the merit of being FOSS and available on F-Droid.

butlike

Ok the little infographic that shows "how it works" looks like the cloudflare warning when cloudflare can't connect to the host.

gardnr

A genuinely good-for-the-world project. The data is really useful for science and for machine learning. You can export all the research-grade identifications of fungi to train a classifier; if that’s what you’re into.

Modified3019

I wish there was some kind of desktop application that I could sit down and locally organize my data into, allowing me to keep a full quality source while syncing a copy to naturalist for others to benefit from. As it stands, I don’t really have a system in place, and I don’t want to put a lot of effort into a lossy (assets get compressed and stripped of metadata) online project.

djeastm

Not to be confused with iNaturist...

jmusall

Haven't tried iNaturalist yet, but I love Merlin Bird ID [1] and Flora Incognita [2]. The latter seems to be exceptionally accurate (over 80% up to 98% depending on the dataset) [3]. They also expose an API for "registered external clients" [4], but so far I sadly wasn't able to find any further documentation on it. A problem I often have with Merlin is that the birds seem to know when I record them, and promptly stop singing... [1] https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/ [2] https://floraincongita.com/ [3] https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10676 [4] https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13611

tagami

I have a friend that works there. They recently posted a few open positions: User Insights and Analytics Manager https://app.beapplied.com/apply/kwwnthztts Technical Delivery Manager https://app.beapplied.com/apply/ppeyvinuw4

anotheryou

how does it compare to obsidentify? (same doxxing problem there) does it allow to save observations without publishing? want a pokedeck

Evidlo

> it has open CORS headers which means it's amazing for demos and tutorials. The fact that this even exists is so sad. CORS is such an ill-conceived idea

pvillano

https://www.instagram.com/inaturalistshitpost/