Download data for one observation

[kpmcfarland]

Is there a way to download data for one observation? Perhaps adding the observation number to the export page URL somehow? Thanks, Kent

[pisum]

even though it doesn’t look like you can filter for a particular observation id in the explore page, even by specifying id in the URL, there are some ways to download data for a specific id, which i’ll assume means putting the data in CSV format for the purposes of this discussion.

the first way is do what you’re hinting at in your original post. you can begin a regular download of all observations, just to get to the download screen. once you’re at the download screen, you can manually add “&taxon_id= 48460&id=[your observation id]” to the gray URL box in section 1 (the “Create a Query” section). (taxon_id 48460 is all life, and it’s there because it’s the easiest way to satisfy the requirement on that page to specify at least one taxon, project, user, place, or search query.) at that point, you should be able to verify that you’ve filtered just one observation in section 2, and then you can select the fields that you want in section 3 before clicking the Export button in section 4.

alternatively, the old API allows you to return a given observation in CSV format, though i’m not aware of a way to pick which fields end up in the results. for example: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations.csv?id=42800369. here’s some relevant documentation for the old API: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/api+reference#get-observations.

just curious – what is your use case for downloading just one observation? (if you don’t mind sharing)

[kpmcfarland]

Thanks. I figured there was URL hack for that. I have a user that is a botanist and is very careful about his IDs. He likes to keep track of things he IDs that are tough in his own spreadsheet and puts in his own notes and things as to why he did what he did. Why? I have no idea, but he is one of the best here in the region so whatever he wants, I try to help! His IDs are gold.