How to Make an Observation

What Are Observations?

An observation records an encounter with an individual organism at a particular time and location. This includes encounters with signs of organisms like tracks, nests, or things that just died. When you make an observation, you'll record:

Your observations don’t need to include all of these parts, but they do in order to become research quality observations for science. Remember, you should make separate observations for each separate organism you encounter.

If you observed something that is not wild, like a garden plant or a lion in the zoo, make sure to mark it as captive/cultivated to prevent it from becoming research quality.

How to Make an Observation with your iPhone or iPad

1. Tap Observe.

2. Add one or more photos or sounds as evidence.

3. Choose an identification for what you saw. Get suggestions or search for a taxon. You can always choose a coarse taxon like Plants, Insects, or Fungi.

4. When you saw it should be added automatically.

5. Where you saw it should be added automatically. If it doesn't, check Privacy in the Settings app.

6. Save your observation.

7. Upload to share with the community. This should happen automatically. If it doesn't, tap the Upload button. You can turn off automatic upload from the app settings from the Me tab.

8. Check back for activity on your observation from the community or be notified by email to the address in your account settings.

How to Make an Observation with your Android Device

1. Tap Observe.

2. Add one or more photos or sounds as evidence.

3. Choose an identification for what you saw. Get suggestions or search for a taxon.

You can always choose a coarse taxon like Plants, Insects, or Fungi.

4. When you saw it should be added automatically.

5. Where you saw it should be added automatically. If it doesn't, check Privacy in the Settings app.

6. Save your observation.

7. Sync to share with the community. This should happen automatically. If it doesn't, tap the Sync button. You can turn off automatic upload from the app Settings screen.

8. Check back for activity on your observation from the community or be notified by email to the address in your account settings.

How to Make an Observation from the Web

1. Start by clicking the green Upload button from the header when you are logged in or head to this page. From the upload page, begin by dragging in one or more photos. Each photo will create an "observation card" that you can edit before submitting. You can also use the "Add" button in the upper left to create observation cards without photos or the "More Import options" menu to upload a CSV or import from external sites.

2. Choose what you saw from the suggestions or by searching for a name. 

You can always choose a coarse taxon like Plants, Insects, or Fungi. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, leave it blank or use some placeholder text. If you entered a scientific name that's not recognized, click "Search external name providers" to first import the organism from elsewhere. Use the sidebar to let us know if the organism you observed was captive or cultivated.

3. Use the calendar to enter when you observed the organism.

4. Type in an address or place name and select from the places offered in order to calculate coordinates and an accuracy circle describing where you were. You'll probably also need to zoom into the map and manually adjust the marker position and accuracy circle size.

5. Submit your observations.