Virtual Resources for Plant and Animal Identification

 eBird

    eBird states that its goal is “to gather this information in the form of checklists of birds, archive it, and freely share it to power new data-driven approaches to science, conservation and education (eBird, 2024)”. They also make tools to benefit birders, such as “being able to manage lists, photos and audio recordings, to seeing real-time maps of species distribution, to alerts that let you know when species have been seen, we strive to provide the most current and useful information to the birding community (eBird, 2024).”

I have used this resource for well over a decade and find it incredibly useful for not only species identification but for its capacity for research and trip logs. It is very useful for finding different specific species or locations with a high diversity of species through species search, target species, bar charts, and hotspots. This tool also has an entire tab dedicated to science that mostly looks at population trends and research applications but also provides a variety of other invaluable data. Finally, this source provides the user the capability of creating their own lists while either in the field with a mobile app or using a website and tracks specific species scene, species count, breeding codes, and more. Overall, eBird is an invaluable tool for anyone conducting research or interested in the field of ornithology.

Merlin Bird I.D.

    Merlin Bird I.D. is another tool sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that specializes in bird identification. This app that is compatible with most smartphones allows the user to identify birds through a step by step questionnaire, sound, or a photo. The step by step questionnaire uses location, date, size, coloration, and behavior to determine possible species identification. For example, when I put in a bird theoretical bird sighting in Roanoke, VA on July 18th, 2024 that was "robin-sized", grey and red, and in trees or bushes, the app identified the top three most likely species as an American robin, Northern cardinal, and red-bellied woodpecker. Additionally the photo identification tool uses AI software with access to near-countless photos to identify the species from a photo uploaded by the user. Finally, the tool that I use the most myself is the audio identification tool. Many bird species have very similar songs and they can be difficult to learn. Once again utilizing an AI software with a large amount of reference data, the audio identification tool can use previous recordings to compare it to what it is hearing and make a proper identification.

iNaturalist

iNaturalist is a useful tool for identification of practically any non-microscopic species. Using the camera of a smartphone, iNaturalist is able to using similar technology to Merlin Bird I.D. to figure out what species of organism is highlighted in the photo. This is a wonderful tool for the identification of plants, animals, and fungi and is very useful in naturalist education. I myself am fairly familiar with many species in the phylum Chordata (vertebrates), especially avian species, but find myself consistently using it for insects, plants, and fungi. This resource also provides a map of local sightings that allows you to further familiarize yourself with local sightings. Finally, the app shows both worldwide and local projects that you can contribute to or participate in. This is a wonderful resource that allows you to become involved as an amateur naturalist in your community.