January

by Master Naturalist Pam Johnson.

Isn’t AI wonderful?  I hear that a lot but I have some cautions.

On the positive side take some examples from Community Science. I have been using Merlin (identifies bird songs), Ebird (helps identify and keeps bird checklists), and iNaturalist, which identifies species of life forms from photos. I have used these apps since my eyesight and hearing has gotten worse. My digital zoom camera is also a wonderful tool. I can take pictures capturing a bird and then zoom in on my computer at home. With Merlin I can record the songs of birds that I can’t hear with my own ears. They have extended the life of my outdoors experiences. I think these apps engage the young and the old in the outdoors. They also can build a huge database in pictures and sounds for the scientific community to draw on.

This month while we are stuck inside, I’d like to focus on iNaturalist, an independent, nonprofit organization that began in 2008 to “connect people to nature and advance science and conservation” (iNaturalist 2024). Participants upload photographs or audio recordings of any organism with the species name or lowest taxonomic level they can determine, as well as associated data such as location, time, and date. Once those assets are uploaded, other users can contribute taxonomic identifications to the observation. The following will be for iPhone users on IOS operating system. Android products are not the same but functionality will be in the near future.

There are two versions of iNaturalist in the Apple app store, iNaturalist (newest version) and iNaturalist Classic (the older version). Since the old version will eventually be phased out and you are just starting, it is best to get the newest version. The app is free. If you already have iNaturalist Classic, you can add the new version. You will then have two versions but they keep the same metadata as long as you keep the same login. The new version will ask if you have an iNaturalist account and you will want to indicate that you do to sign in.

Once you have downloaded the app, I would sign in and you will click on Menu in the bottom left of screen (three bars). Go to Settings and set your iPhone to Advanced Mode. That way you will see all the information that is available. It will add to your observations the date and time, location and if your observation has been checked. You also want to be ensured your phone’s GPS/location services are on for automatic capture in the app.

Then within the Menu, touch “help” in Settings and then “view iNaturalist help.” or just click here:
How to make an Observation with the iNaturalist iPhone App : iNaturalist Help

Although it is winter, you can take any living thing to identify; backyard birds at feeder, a bug in the house, or tree bark and buds or leaf scars. The best plants to take pictures of in winter are trees, specifically the bark, buds and leaf scars.

It is important in identifying to take multiple pictures, one each of the bark, the twig and the whole tree shape. If you find an insect take pictures of the head, thorax and the abdomen, photos from front of face, top, and side. The same for plants. You want to take the stem, leaf, and flower if present. iNaturalist will take the first picture you list to try to identify it. Switch to the next picture and iNaturalist’s top recommendation might change. How do they handle getting conflicting identifications resolved? They have an ‘expert’ validate all of your pictures. I often look at the ‘expert’s’ profile to see how much experience they have. For example, when I am identifying bumblebees, I want to know how much experience the people looking at my observation have. If no one has verified your entry, the experts probably didn’t have enough information to work from. This is why more than one picture of key anatomical features are important.

When you get the list of identifications, you will want to compare your picture to each listed species by clicking “Learn more about the species”. which will show you another screen with description and pictures that iNaturalist has on that species. You can scroll through the pictures to compare to your picture. The list will show nearby suggestions only. If it still doesn’t seem right, you could click on box “Expand Map” at the bottom of the id list page, which will expand the search outside of your local area. See if you get anything that might be out of range.

Check back periodically and you will see when your identification has been checked and if there is agreement. I often do this online because it is easier to see who has verified your observations. When more than two-thirds of the suggestions agree on the identified species and the observation passes the iNaturalist Data Quality Assessment (iNatHelp 2024), the observation is accepted as “Research Grade” and is available to the scientific community. Online it will also show if the species is endangered. This does not show on the app.

Go back to your observations again (“Me”). There are two modes of viewing your observations, picture mode and list mode. There is a toggle switch between photos and list on bottom lower left of the screen. Tap list mode. The flag at the right of the observation will tell you how many people have checked your entry and if they agree. Then click on the circled flag to see the following: If there are two people and a check mark, it is Research Grade.

Click on the persons picture/name for details on that person. You can see what their qualifications are. For example: on the Southern Plains Bumblebee identification, Johnascher has a lot of experience so I trust that he is correct.

I’ve heard people who had to learn to read keys and plant identification in school, say using these apps is too easy – THEY had to learn plant parts and what to look for in a plant. Are they right? Somewhat. I believe that the apps do make it very easy not to learn the basics about plants, insects and birds which help in identification. Do these apps take the place of other references? No! These apps are a place to start your adventure with nature. Things to remember about searching a database on an AI app like iNaturalist, if the information is not in it, you can’t find it. If you have found an uncommon species, the database may not contain a picture of it, so it will give you the closest matches. If I am not satisfied with the answer of something like an insect which I personally know is difficult to id, I go back to my reference books on insects or lookup the species selected on my computer on the internet. which I verify many of the insects, plants or birds that I don’t recognize.

I hope you will try out these new tools on JDCF preserves or wherever you travel. It can make your visits more informative about the world around you. It can also lead you to more questions that can be answered by further research.

Here are the possible online references to answer further questions.
www.Beespotter.org: University of Illinois entomology department. Under topics there is an identification key for bumblebees and other useful information. If you sign in, you can post a picture and one person from the department will check the id for you.
Illinois Wildflowers: Illinois Natural history survey – gives habitat, insect using plant, and good description using leaf, flower and stem characteristics.
BugGuide.Net: Insect identification worldwide.
All About Birds: Cornell University site for birding worldwide.