Northern Mockingbird (Mimus Polyglottos), Taken March 9, 2025, In Georgia, US

Banded Fishing Spider (Dolomedes vittatus), female, taken September 27, 2024, in Georgia, US

Aside from maybe Joro Spiders, this is one of the largest spiders I find in my area. I almost stepped on this girl while I was circling a tree, and she shot out of the leaves and scared the crap out of me! She was a wonderful model, though, unlike her cousins the White-banded Fishing Spiders (Dolomedes albineus) who are hateful and cannot sit still.

iNaturalist New User Guide: FAQ

[If you haven’t joined iNaturalist, you should! It’s a great way to learn about the wildlife around you and contribute to citizen science]

This guide will be consistently updated as I write more posts/receive more questions. This is intended to be a basic jumping off point, with some links to more detailed guides(when I write them). If there is something you would like a more in-depth answer on, feel free to contact me directly!

Account Basics

Do I need to be a biologist/naturalist/professional or have experience with wildlife to join iNaturalist?

Nope! iNaturalist is for everybody, and is in fact founded on the principle that you do not need to be a professional researcher in order to contribute to science

Do I have to make an account under my real name? 

Also no. You will see a lot of people on iNaturalist doing this, but it isn’t required. Do as much as you are comfortable with

Posting Observations

[More in-depth guide TBA]

What is required to post an observation? 

In order for an observation to be eligible to become Research Grade, it needs to include three things: media(a photo or audio recording), location, and date. You CAN post an observation without these things, but it will be considered Casual.

What does Research Grade/Casual/Needs ID mean?

Research Grade(RG) means that an eligible observation has at least 2 identifications, and 2/3rds of those identifications agree on a species. As stated above, in order to be eligible for research grade, an observation needs to include media, date, and location. Research grade observations are, as the name implies, able to be used in research by relevant professionals. 

Needs ID means that an observation is eligible to become research grade, but does not yet have a 2/3rds consensus on species

Casual means that an observation is not able to be used in research. There are three main reasons an observation will be marked Casual. One, it is missing media/date/location. Two, it is a captive observation. Three, the user has opted out of community ID. 

What is a captive observation? 

An observation is marked captive when the organism depicted is owned and cared for by humans with no intention of release. Common examples are pets, garden plants, and zoo animals. Captive does not apply to feral domesticated species, wildlife taken to rehab centers, invasive species, or plants that have spread beyond gardens into unmaintained land. Captive observations are not eligible to become RG. 

I want to contribute to research, but I don’t want to post my exact location

iNaturalist allows you to set the location visibility on each observation to obscured, which displays the observations location as a 400 km^2 bounding box. You can also choose to assign locations manually instead of via image metadata, and thus set the “confidence interval” fairly large, such as encompassing your entire city. 

Can I post dead things? 

Yes. Several projects actually utilize iNaturalist to keep track of species mortality causes. You do not have to censor anything, but some users will upload a cover image that states “Dead Observation”. This is a matter of individual user’s comfort levels. 

I don’t know what it is, what do I put in the initial ID box when submitting?

ID it to the level you’re confident about. You shouldn’t leave it at “unknown” unless you are 100% unsure of what kind of lifeform it is. Initial IDs can be as general as “birds” “mammals” “plants” and so on. These generic categories help put your observation in the sights of more experienced identifiers. While some users do dedicate time to sorting observations marked “unknown”, they are much less likely to be seen. 

Identifications

[More in-depth guide TBA]

Someone left an ID on my observation, should I agree with them?

If you have reasons to be confident that their ID is correct, yes. Otherwise, just leave it. Erroneous agrees can lead to incorrect RG status. 

Someone disagreed with my ID and I don’t know why

Ask! Most identifiers are happy to explain their reasoning for an identification, and you don’t have to agree with them, you can simply let your own ID stand and allow other identifiers to chime in. 

It’s been a while and nobody has contributed an ID to my observation

Unfortunately that happens, especially in taxonomic groups where less experts are active on iNaturalist. A few ways you can attempt to remedy this are submitting the observation to projects or tagging identifiers in the observation(a good place to start is the “top identifiers” leaderboard that will show up in the bottom right corner in desktop). And you can also consider researching that organism yourself! 

Community Etiquette 

Do I need to speak formally? 

No, but you should treat it like a polite public conversation

Can I swear?

I wouldn’t recommend it, you’ll probably get suspended 

Fine-backed Red Paper Wasp (Polistes carolina), taken November 4, 2024, in Georgia, US

Sleeby!! A beautiful paper wasp drowsing on a yellowing leaf on a cool November evening. She barely reacted to my presence, likely due to the incoming cold. She was gone the next day, so she likely set out once the sun warmed her up the next morning!

Southern Sprite (Nehalennia integricollis), teneral female, taken May 1, 2025, in Georgia, US

A delicate damsel! I'm extremely excited to have gotten some good pictures of this species, as they're pretty rare in my area. I've only seen one previously, a male last summer. Males of this species can be identified by their bright blue eyes and tail tips which contrast their otherwise green and white body. Females look very similar when fully adult but can be differentiated, having dark blue eyes, duller bodies, and a much smaller blue spot on the tail (white tail spot on the individual in the photo). Now that I'm actually actively looking for damselflies when I go out, I hope I'll see more new faces!

Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura), taken March 27, 2025, in Georgia, US

Look at this wonderful vulture couple who were dining in on some scrumptious, long-dead raccoon! I'd been seeing vultures flying in and out of the area for the past few days, but never connected it to a carcass because rarely anything large dies here. I have no idea why the raccoon died—it was on the bank of the creek, a few feet from the water. I happened to glance over before attempting to parkour across the creek and spotted one of the vultures eating. I quickly turned right back around and (purposefully) walked to my house to switch my lenses and was able to catch them both together. They're my first vulture photos!

White-jawed Jumping Spider (Hentzia mitrata), female, taken April 22, 2025, in Georgia, US

A cute female jumper who thinks she's hiding from me! I absolutely adore this species—they're my little locals. I'm seeing lots of adult males about, so they're preparing to breed soon! Juveniles of this genus are usually unable to be IDed to species until they begin to gain their adult colors. H. mitrata juveniles retain their white legs while H. palmarum (Common Hentz Jumping Spider) and most others in the genus develop brown front legs and brown or black patterning as opposed to orange.

Red-shouldered Bug (Jadera haematoloma), taken April 4, 2025, in Georgia, US

Just a little guy posing for a picture! He seemed to be following the camera as I tried to get different angles. This insect has two adult morphs: long-winged (macropterous) and short-winged (brachypterous). The short-winged morph has, as you could infer, shorter wings that leave part of the abdomen exposed. I've seen both forms in a solitary setting, though this species apparently tends to have higher rates of short-winged adults when they live in groups. Less need for wings when you don't have to go anywhere to find a mate!

Snake-headed Flatworm (Rhynchodemus sylvaticus), taken March 21, 2025, in Georgia, US

Takes your worm on a string and makes it SLIMY and BALD!!!!

Look at him. I love him. I showed him to my friend and was told he is pathetic, but that is just not the case. This is the ideal life form. With this, "would you love me if I was a worm" takes on a whole new meaning. Of course I would love you if you became this. With your stupid long nose and little light-sensing eyes. Perfect!!

False Mealworm Beetle (Alobates pensylvanicus), taken March 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

A little beetle, as a treat. Look at this wonderful individual! I found him sheltering under pine bark I was peeling up, and I must have woken him up because he was very slow to start. It took me poking at him a few times (to check for life) before he decided he hated that, actually, and slowly lumbered underneath the log!

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), juvenile male, taken February 26, 2025, in Georgia, US

The last of the blackbirds are finally making their way out! Instead of hundreds in a day, we are now only seeing 1 or 2 stragglers stop for a snack. Kind of sad to see them go because they're beautiful, but I can also hear the song of other birds now that they're not screaming over them lol, so that's nice! The woods are quiet without them, but that's not such a bad thing.