With birds (I do this frequently on eBird) if it is a species that would be unusual time-wise or out-of-range, I write down exactly the process used to ID.
So for example, recently I saw an orange-crowed warbler, which was rare according to eBird. I wrote down in the description that I was viewing it at a certain distance, using 8x binoculars, and then I noted that it was foraging with a ruby-crowned kinglet and also near white-throated sparrows, and that it was slightly bigger than the kinglet but much smaller than the sparrows. Then I noted that I got a good view of its back, and it had no wing bars. I also got a clear view of the undertail coverts, which were yellow, and I also got a clear view of its face. I also noticed that it tended to be foraging lower in the vegetation than the kinglet, almost near the ground, and that it was in an area that had dense tangles of vines and herbaceous vegetation.
All of these things are important for ID! And they accepted the record. Incidentally, someone else also saw the same bird not far from there on another day.
In some cases, I also have extensive experience with a relevant species, which I also note. For example, I lived on the West Coast for four months and in that time, I got extensive views of Western and Cassin’s kingbirds, to where I was very familiar with them. Then, on the East Coast, a few years later, I saw a yellow-breasted Kingbird. I immediately could tell that it was neither a Western nor Cassin’s kingbird, but I didn’t know what it was. Mainly, it looked too big, and it was perched in a spot where I had good size references! My guess was Tropical or Couch’s kingbird, but I wasn’t sure of that, and both seemed exceedingly unlikely.
Someone else showed up with a better camera AND heard the bird vocalize (which I did not) and it turned out to be a Tropical kingbird!
So like…just share your thought process, and also share relevant experience you’ve had.
There’s a big difference between a report of something like a Lincoln’s sparrow or Clay Colored sparrow, from someone who is reporting it as a new bird on their life list, vs. someone who has seen dozens or hundreds of those species and spots one in with a flock of some other species. But similarly, if someone identifies a Clay-colored sparrow among a flock of chipping sparrows in fall, I am going to trust them a lot more if they have seen hundreds of chipping sparrows and have seen them in all their different plumages through the year, vs. if they are relatively unfamiliar with chipping sparrow and then think they see a clay-colored sparrow in the mix…if that makes sense?
, but I’ll add comments to pictures which are not completely useless if some input about the direct visual observation is added… I don’t think adding just an unidentifiable bird would be much useful, if we take into account the areas I usually wander in.