Hello! I recently discovered iNaturalist and I’m in love. I’m also confused. I am a casual observer of nature with a good camera. Aside from some aquarium fish, I lack deep knowledge of most taxa*. Right now, when I post something I don’t know (e.g. a wildflower) I look through the AI suggestions, …

Hi Welcome to the forum. I prefer to add a broad because the CV suggestion can be wrong many times.

welcome to the forum @spaceman98 :) If you are confident that the AI suggestion is correct, there is nothing wrong with selecting it. If it ends up being wrong, that’s completely fine; it will be corrected, and you’ll learn something new. If you’re unsure about things, then just do exactly as you …

You don’t need to be a specialist, but you should be confident that you’re correctly recognizing the species in question. Often if I think I know the species, but am not confident enough to give a species level ID I’ll ID to genus and include a comment that I think it’s XY species.

I think the approach you described is generally good but would add two things: When you ID boldly, it’s important to stay active with your observations. If someone else is able to ID differently than the AI or your initial ID, don’t worry! Withdrawing your initial ID is totally fine, or changing …

I agree with everything said so far. I would also add a couple of things. Do not be afraid to ask questions. I try to leave an explanation, especially with id changes, but sometimes not. Initially, pick a region and a taxon and stay there for a while. When I started, I tried to identify moths from …

Choosing to agree with a finer identification than you have made is a bit of a judgement call. If you personally know the person and rely or trust them, then maybe it is easier or better to do than a seemingly random person. Likewise a quick check of their profile can give some indication if they h…

Thank you all for the excellent and insightful answers!

When to assign species-level ID?

General

sbushes July 22, 2021, 11:08pm 8

I think the “be bold” statement might need a little fine-tuning.

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Dividing iNaturalist “Suggested ID's” into two types, with improved suggested taxon level, and language, to reduce bad ID's, while making more useful species suggestions General	3	570	September 26, 2020
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When to assign species-level ID?

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