I have just dipped my toe in iNaturalist. Two observations are for species which apparently have multiple people who can attest to the correctness of one’s ID. I understand if identifiers are overworked, but just need some guidance on how long I should expect to wait. Thanks, David
That depends a lot on where you are, what your observation is of, and perhaps even time of day.
Birds usually get IDed pretty quickly. Lichens might never be IDed.
It can vary a lot by species and by photo quality. A lot of people monitor new images so sometimes it happens right away, but if it’s been a long time you could try learning to do some IDs in the same genus or area for others, then if you tag someone who’s an expert on the organism they are more likely to make some time to help.
Not being “research grade” doesn’t mean that your observation isn’t useful. I use photos with just one ID all the time when trying to get a sense of what people are observing and where.
And welcome to the site!
If I knew more about moths I’d help. Post more ants. I’m always happy to look at those. ;)
(Also sometimes a species ID just isn’t possible even with a good photo because there are multiple similar species in the area. )
Just checked your observations, and I see you are in the same part of the world as I am. (So I have IDed what I can.)
Thanks for your quick reply. I’ve just been out photographing lichens for an article in a local newsletter, so will be hoping to use the site to confirm names. Otherwise I will stick to “fructose”, etc. I’ve just put up a couple more local obs, so will see how they go.
It can take anything from minutes to decades.
Fructose or fruticose? I don’t know much about lichens, but “subcrustose” was the Fictionary word in late 2018.
Don’t let me discourage you! There are people who ID lichens - but I have few observations IDed to species. Most stop at genus or somewhere higher.
As you have seen by your last couple of observations, orchids get IDed quite quickly.
Added: and I see your moth has been IDed as well! I’m a bit jealous - I have an observation of the same species, with a clearer photo, which has had no IDs added in 3 months.
Another addition: As a comparison to your violet, I have violet observations up to 6 years old without IDs.
Whatever you do, don’t stick with “fructose” :-) It is fruticose. Forms of lichens are clasified as fruticose, foliose, crustose. The latter may be smooth crustose, mealy crustose, areolated, membranous, placoid (semicrustose - with small folioles at the margins and crustose in the center). There are also squamulose and dimorphic lichens - crustose or squamulose at the base and shrubby, stick- or goblet like above. Then there are ecological characteristics: epiphytic (growing on bark), lignicolous (growing on wood or timber), saxicolous (growing on rocks), terricolous (growing on soil), epiphyllous (growing on leaves of evergreen plants), aquatic (growing on (mostly) rocks in fresh- or saline water. And there is differentiation by presence ar absence of fruiting bodies: with fruiting bodies or sterile (without fruiting bodies).
Minutes to over a decade.
There is no ‘usually it takes X amount of time’.
It very much depends on what your’re observing, where the observation is in the world, the quality of the images, if they show diagnostic features, etc, etc, etc.
Some observations can’t be identified to species from a photo, some are of species or from parts of the world where there are few identifiers and few people familiar with them, and others (birds being the key example) tend to get identified within a few hours.
Sometimes, when my ID response time patience is fraying, I take a closer look at what other local observers are experiencing. Occasionally I’ve noticed that nearly ALL observations are frozen from ID over a long span and conclude that there just are not any (or enough) local IDers available.
But then I have tried finding the top, most creditable (and open to request) Identifiers for that species or group and politely ask them to consider ‘clearing the slate’ for not just myself, but for others in my region.
It’s amazing how many are kind enough to respond and clear things up. And it’s a testament to how generous, on a whole, the iNat community really is.
Personally, I have some that have been waiting 8 years, and there are some that are confirmed within seconds. With lichens, I’ve found that the experts I tag often respond that microscopy or chemical tests are needed to differentiate between species, which makes a lot of photos unidentifiable, no matter how good the quality. Here’s hoping yours are in the “identifiable” category!
And even to infinity and beyond.
I sometimes revisit my observations that have not been IDed for a long time and if I have not provided a species or at least genus-level ID already, I do some homework, see what others have IDed in the area and put an ID on mine, even if I’m not 100% sure. I add a note that this is a best guess. That can sometimes prime the pump for someone to look at it and maybe agree with or correct my ID.
Another thing to keep in mind is when you are uploading your observations. If the upload happens concurrently to a Bioblitz or something like that your observation is more likely to get “buried” by the massive influx of observations.
As people said there’s a lot of factors, but I personally feel like if it hasn’t gotten an ID within 3 days, then I am going to be waiting a long time. So if it has been three days and I am really dying to know what it is ASAP, I should do my own research and then tag someone to confirm.
I do this too. And if it’s been months or years, there’s a chance that CV recommendations have improved enough since the original ID to be able to narrow it down further.
It seems that it used to take from mere seconds to a few minutes for me to get an ID on a bird observation, assuming the photo was diagnostic. I’ve noticed now that it sometimes takes a couple of days for birds that aren’t that difficult. Probably due to the sheer volume of posts. It also partly depends on how many taxon specialists are reviewing records at the time and how many followers you have on your account. I think summertime is when more IDers are focused on other things besides looking at fellow iNatters’ observations.
Here are some numbers (no statistics?) about ID’s in the last 7 days
https://www.inaturalist.org/stats
10 seconds on android (I think).
Fascinating. What happened on the 16th of August???