As the title implies, what are some species you have trouble ID’ing? Maybe ones with very few distinguishing features, ones that are usually hidden, or ones that look very similar to others? If you’ve had this problem, how did you figure it out? Personally I find myself struggling to tell some of t…

The obvious birding answer - flycatchers. Willow and Alder are basically impossible (to me, anyway) without hearing them. Green frogs and Bull frogs. I just can’t quite get it. Some of the red dragonflies look rather a lot alike, too… : /

Indian Bullfrog and Asian Common Toads

Many plant genera. The Jepson eFlora key to Genus Phacelia seems so large. Any flowering plant that requires fruit for ID, but it is not fruiting is difficult. Genus Cryptantha for example. Lately I have been learning Stephanomeria, which has small key, but requires concentration with a hand lens a…

Common Jesters and Common Sailers Scarlet Skimmers and Ditch Jewel

I seldom try to take willows past Genus Salix, except for when I am in the Pacific Northwest, where S. scouleriana stands out as the only one found far from waterways, and has a different leaf shape than all the others. I note that in California, all the observations that I would confidently call Q…

Castilleja, Erigeron, and Lupinus species and any Braconidae

My least-favorite ID challenge would be gulls. In my neck of the woods (Northwestern Ontario, Canada), there are really only four expected gull species: Ring-billed , Herring , Franklin’s , and Bonaparte’s . I’m good with that, as the plumage patterns of gulls are so complex that even those four can be …

Moths are impossible. Moths and lichens. The pattern in moths may even be very well described, but if I try to compare the pictures I have taken (of a species I do not know) based on these various descriptions in words… Well, it doesn’t work. These descriptions may be perfectly logical and accurate…

Moths and lichens. I will disagree softly on the lichens, since I started I’ve been surprised at how much is actually possible in the field compared to their reputation, especially with some experience, a good handlens and a couple chemicals in the bag. Cladonia though is still often very much a…

Gulls, definitely! Whenever I filter Identify for birds in my area, I exclude Larus because I know I haven’t got a chance at IDing them. However, I can now recognize the Mew Gull (Larus canus), which seems to be the most distinctive species here. So perhaps eventually I’ll learn the harder ones. Be…

Species you struggle to ID

Nature Talk

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There Was An Attempt: Hardest and Easiest Butterflies/Moths to ID in the U.S.A General	23	1186	November 16, 2024
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IDs: the one you always avoid General	40	1244	August 20, 2026
Needed: more people to help ID moths and other insects Nature Talk	40	4207	June 17, 2020
Are there any taxa that need more identifiers and aren’t cryptic/near-impossible to identify? Or are those things mutually exclusive? General	61	1264	August 16, 2026

Species you struggle to ID

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