First time posting on the forum. I’ve been using iNat for a few years now mostly to contribute observations, but I’m starting to wonder how I can best contribute identifications. My specialty is birds of Eastern North America. I’ve been an East Coast birder for 20+ years, but I find that lots of bir…

any/all of those are good options. Goodness knows I’ve learned a lot from getting ID’s on iNat and I look for a lot more non-herp/non-bird animals and plants than I used to. And learning about animals in exotic places I’ll never go has been fun as well but I’m leery of making ID’s without ever h…

Welcome to the forum! I have been on iNat for less than three years so I don’t have any answers for you, but I admire the questions! I do think that it’s important that whatever you choose is something that you like enough that you can sustain your interest in it, so it doesn’t become a chore to you…

[image] williampaulwhite17: I’m leery of making ID’s without ever having seen said animals in person myself, I just can’t feel confident Yes, that feeling of confidence (or the lack of it) is a major motivating factor!

Welcome to the forum! Two previous topics that may be of some interest: Help me identify (non-experts welcome) Useful iNaturalist Tasks for Non-Experts

[image] JaneBP: my observations have been mostly birds and arthropods You could stay with your chosen taxa, but broaden the location. Or try helping with another country - birds get IDs, but arthropods would appreciate attention.

All of what you said are valid ways to contribute. Another way to contribute to ID’s is to get observations out of the “Unknown”. For such cases an ID to a less specific classification eg. Plant, Frog, Beetle etc. would aid in the observation getting a more specific ID.

With @jeanphilippeb 's projects, one can ID pre-sorted unknowns for maximum efficiency.

Like others have said, all of those options are good avenues to go down when you want to start IDing! I just wanted to mention that although many birders are super quick with IDs and that area might not need as much help, I don’t think it would hurt to add your IDs to those same posts. For me person…

Definitely agree with this. Find a group that interests you, do some research on it until you feel comfortable enough to ID species in a particular region, and then start IDing. The hardest part is getting started. Also, there are plenty of experts that you could message on inat who would be happy …

How to best contribute to identifications? Looking for advice

General

swampster February 24, 2023, 6:55pm 5

Welcome to the forum!

Two previous topics that may be of some interest:

Help me identify (non-experts welcome)
Useful iNaturalist Tasks for Non-Experts

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Are some observations more in need of IDing than others? General	30	4799	May 21, 2019
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What if nobody IDs your observation? General question	36	5541	June 27, 2020
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How to best contribute to identifications? Looking for advice

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