i pulled out my old Blackberry Curve, and tried doing a voice recording on it. it saves files in *.amr format. so, yes, if yours is like mine, then you will probably have to convert the file to another format like *.wav or *.mp3.
but if you just want audio, i’m thinking you could probably record a Voice Memo in iOS, which should save in *.m4a format, which iNaturalist definitely allows you to upload, and which most people nowadays will be able to open.
Thank you. I’m not sure how to convert files, but I could probably figure it out!
I mean, that’s kind of my point though. You can log birds all you want, but without a recording or photos your observation won’t reach anything other than “casual” which wouldn’t show up in a research dataset to begin with.
hmmmm… a “casual” observation might not get pushed to GBIF or other data aggregators, but i don’t think there’s anything otherwise preventing you from using “casual” grade data if you want to. i don’t think an observation without a photo in iNatrualist is any better or worse than an observation without a photo in eBrid.
If it’s Crows or other birds then the “good” numbers are to be found in eBird and not in iNat.
The “blinding light behind them” problem can usually be easily compensated for by over-exposing abut 2/3 of a stop. Better still, make sure to save your images as RAW files and then use software to bring out the detail in the shadows that is hiding in there.
My understanding is iNat is used for many many research purposes, but they are very aware of it’s limitations. There is a function to upload a checklist, like ebird if you want to do full counts without photos for anything, not just birds. And my brother hosts BioBlitzes for iNat through one of his classes every year specifically to record everything possible in a specified area. It gives a longitudinal snapshot as well because it is repeated the same time every year. In fact BioBlitzes are becoming more popular as a way to introduce folks to iNat.
I feel that only after I photograph a lot of those “common” species. Well, they shouldn’t even be common, just got too much attention from me, the way they eventually become far less interesting. I do like every species and don’t think one is better than another, but if I already observed species many times in the area (and area is quitr small thing for me, e.g. I’d want to record things near each building it appears) it feels there’s already too much data and there’s less sense in capturing again when you can go and find something else or the same species but in a new spot. Plus, if I focus on one group for a long time I then switch to another one, so I can name certain periods of my life with taxonomic groups I searched for at the time.
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