# How do you search for observations to ID? **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Tags:** identify, identification\ **Created:** [May 5, 2025, 12:07am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-do-you-search-for-observations-to-id/64768 "2025-05-05T00:07:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![yarrowbrighteyes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/yarrowbrighteyes/32/50658_2.png) [@yarrowbrighteyes](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/yarrowbrighteyes)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 2:59pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-do-you-search-for-observations-to-id/64768/21 "2025-05-07T14:59:19Z")
I have tried Date Ascending before, and it definitely allows you to find things you can’t find with Random. I usually do that if I’m trying to clear a particular project, such as the CNC. Otherwise if I try and start with the very beginning of iNat, it just gets overwhelming. I’ve been working on clearing Unknowns from the CNC - there are so many that are just blatantly someone’s potted plant or pet! It’s very satisfying to see the numbers go down, but I totally understand why people are so exhausted and frustrated. Thank you for the appreciation - I’m very happy to join the ID’ers. It’s nice to get to contribute back to this site that has made such a difference in my life :) ---
**Author:** ![yarrowbrighteyes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/yarrowbrighteyes/32/50658_2.png) [@yarrowbrighteyes](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/yarrowbrighteyes)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 3:06pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-do-you-search-for-observations-to-id/64768/22 "2025-05-07T15:06:14Z")
As an amateur with little expertise, I spend a lot of my time trying just to narrow down those Unknowns. I usually can’t tell you if something is wild carrot or water hemlock, but I can tell you it’s in the carrot family! And I hope by narrowing those down, I can bring them to the attention of people more skilled than me. Sometimes, though, I worry I’m just making things harder - if I ID an “unknown” as a dicot, am I helping narrow things down for plant specialists? Or am I just making them harder to find? I also struggle with things where I’m _pretty_ sure of an ID, but not 100%. Like if I’m 90% certain this jelly fungus is Tremella mesenterica…but it _could_ be a Dacrymyces. I tend to just leave those blank because I’m worried about making a wrong ID, but is it better to risk a wrong ID and get _some_ kind of ID there?? I get all anxious about it, haha. ---
**Author:** ![DianaStuder](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dianastuder/32/43358_2.png) [@DianaStuder](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/DianaStuder)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-do-you-search-for-observations-to-id/64768/23 "2025-05-07T15:39:19Z")
Better broadly right, than narrowly wrong. Yesterday I said ‘snake’ and … 4 minutes later it was at sp!! Dicot helps, if someone (local?) is checking those in turn. For the overwhelming - keep working with filters, till you achieve a batch you _can_ reach the end of. Even the overwhelming, you can get there, a bit at a time - especially if you are a small team working together. ---
**Author:** ![phma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/phma/32/54376_2.png) [@phma](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/phma)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-do-you-search-for-observations-to-id/64768/24 "2025-05-07T19:46:58Z")
> [@yarrowbrighteyes](#): > > Like if I’m 90% certain this jelly fungus is Tremella mesenterica…but it _could_ be a Dacrymyces. In a case like this, I suggest identifying it as one, but noting that it might be the other. I’ve found an observation of a caterpillar, which I think was already identified as a lep, with fewer prolegs than usual. I put it in Geometridae, with a note that it might be a noctuid, as caterpillars with less prolegs are found it that family too. It turned out to be in Noctuoidea, so I changed my ID. ---
**Author:** ![alan\_rockefeller](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/alan_rockefeller/32/2762_2.png) [@alan\_rockefeller](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/alan_rockefeller)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 3:26am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-do-you-search-for-observations-to-id/64768/25 "2025-05-08T03:26:39Z")
I often identify observations that have DNA barcode data with a URL like [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?field:DNA%20Barcode%20ITS=](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?field:DNA%20Barcode%20ITS=) These observations are often actually identifiable, and commonly need attention because the DNA barcode gets added long after the observation is created - and the new direction that the DNA barcode leads is often not reflected in previous identifications. I also like to ID fungi without lichens, with a URL like [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?taxon\_id=47170&without\_taxon\_id=1095261%2C54743%2C117869%2C152030%2C152028%2C69968%2C55524&place\_id=14](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?taxon_id=47170&without_taxon_id=1095261%2C54743%2C117869%2C152030%2C152028%2C69968%2C55524&place_id=14) I usually change the place to where ever I happen to be, or where I am planning on going next. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/7/7831452cf7f0d653ff1ffd34176334b7ef1b6a17.png) [@system](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2025, 3:27am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-do-you-search-for-observations-to-id/64768/26 "2025-07-07T03:27:11Z")
Closed on July 7, 2025, 3:27am UTC This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed. [Previous page](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-do-you-search-for-observations-to-id/64768.md?page=1)