Welcome to the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Urban Wildlife project!

LOCATION AND WHAT CAN BE INCLUDED
Every visible form of animal and fungus life that can be found in Beardsley Park, Glenwood Park or Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo is a legitimate candidate for inclusion in a submission to this project. Zoo animals in exhibits do not qualify; neither do the peafowl or the Guinea fowl. Everything else, from small invertebrates to large mammals, can be record here.

IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIES
Proper identification of the life you have observed is very important. Please do your homework if you are not quite sure of the species you are reporting on.

The observation submission form includes a "Lookup" button next to the input field used for entering the species. This feature will often provide enough information to narrow down a positive ID. If all else fails, you can select the "ID Please" check-box found above the "Lookup" button to request that other users double check your identification.

Further, all submissions will be reviewed by other iNaturalist participants. Naturalists, both amateur and professional, will check your submissions for correct IDs. You can verify the observations of other users as well if you wish. This "peer review" system is a very nice feature of iNaturalist.

PHOTOGRAPHS ARE NECESSARY WHEN POSSIBLE
We strongly encourage the inclusion of photographs whenever possible; try to have the plant/animal/fungus fill up as much as the picture as possible. (It is likely that submissions that do not include photographs will be removed from the project as they are reviewed by the curator.)

By default iNaturalist provides limited copyright protection for submitted pictures. Reuse of pictures will require the attribution of the photographer and is limited to noncommercial ventures only. More rigorous copyright protection can be specified in your account settings if you wish.

GPS: PLEASE PLACE A PIN ON GOOGLE MAP
Please place a pin on a Google Map that marks the location of your sighting.

iNaturalist recognizes the potential harm that can come to certain animals when things like dens or game trails are indicated publicly. Their solution is to offer three levels of Geoprivacy that you can choose from when you record an observation. The option selector for Geoprivacy is located just below the map on the submission form.

The default Geoprivacy setting is for the map location to be "public". This option will allow everyone to see the EXACT location you specify on the map.

The next level of Geoprivacy is "obscured." If you select this option, your location will be represented as a random point somewhere within a 10km radius of the actual specified location. This level of precision is enough to provide context for your sighting without jeopardizing the well being of the animals in your observations. For this project I recommend you use "obscured" for any vulnerable entry such as dens, wildflowers or other species that do not move.

The final setting for Geoprivacy is "private." When you choose this option no location will be visible to the public. The location of the observation will only be as specific as Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo. The project curator will be the only person to have access to the actual location information. This option should rarely be used.

Please feel free to message us with any questions or concerns.

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