All,

We recently surpassed 100,000 track and sign observations in the North American Animal Tracks Database on iNaturalist! Thanks to you, this is now by far the most comprehensive library of track and sign photos on the planet.

As of now, the database includes observations of 1,748 species from over 15,000 people!

Here's a little tip on how to use it as a field guide:

1. Go to the Animal Tracking Database
2. Type the name of a species you're interested (e.g., "black bear") into the "Species" field at the top.
3. On the upper left corner of the map, click "Grid" to view the grid of photos.

And here's the final result (2,291 photos of bear tracks, scat, and sign!)

All,

I just wanted to let you know that today we surpassed 50,000 track and sign observations in the North American Animal Tracks Database on iNaturalist! Thank you for contributing to this project and helping make it an absolutely incredible resource.

As of now, the database includes observations of 1,232 species from 6,449 people!

Here's how I like to use it as an amazing field guide:

1. Go to the Animal Tracking Database
2. Type the name of a species you're interested (e.g., "black bear") into the "Species" field at the top.
3. On the upper left corner of the map, click "Grid" to view the grid of photos.

And here's the final result (2,291 photos of bear tracks, scat, and sign!)

Thanks again for all your efforts!

Jonah

iNaturalist has added interactive heatmaps to projects. This gives users a quick way to see observation hotspots and identify empty areas in need of attention. Check it out!

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/map?project_id=962#4/38.381/-98.23

I recently created a post on how to make an observation in the North American Animal Tracking Database. The project is nearing 5000 observations! Amazing work everyone.

Click here to read the full post on NatureTracking.com

As of March 28, 2014 we are at 3125 observations! This is just incredible. I am really excited to see how well this project has taken off and I'm even more excited to think of where it's going. Since the inception of this project, we have built a library of animal track photo bigger than any field guide available and the species distribution information we've gathered is providing valuable data to wildlife researchers.

Here's an updated heatmap of the most active areas. Some of these hotspots were created by a single person, so don't get discouraged if your in one of the empty areas. You can make your own hotspot.

The North American Animal Tracking Database has grown to over 1000 observations of tracks, sign, eggs, feathers, scat, and other wildlife sign! There are also some truly skilled trackers helping identify tracks, contribute observations, and keep the database accurate.

Currently the database contains:

62% Mammals
20% Birds
9% Invertebrates
6% Herps

78% Have a Curator ID
77% are Research Grade Observations

As our database continues to grow, we are seeing more and more photos of tracks and sign. Some of the photos allow for very easy identification while others are much more difficult.

Here are a few tips on taking photos of tracks that will help make it easy for others to identify them later.

1) Include a scale. Please whenever possible include a ruler in the photo. If you don't have a ruler, use a penny or other coin. Pocket knives come in many sizes and are of little use as a scale.

2) Shade the track. In bright light, your photos will often look much better if the track is shaded. This also eliminates dark shadows that can distort the track. 95% of the track photos I take are shaded.

3) Take a close up and a contextual photo. Take a good close up photo of the track as well as a photo from a little ways back that includes the gait pattern and other associated tracks. A photo of the general area that shows the habitat can also be helpful.

Keep up the great work everyone. The database is now over 700 observations and is becoming an amazing resource.

I'm really excited to see the North American Animal Tracking Database continue to grow. I'm also excited to see the contributions of some excellent trackers.

Take a look at our leaderboard to see who's been contributing: http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/north-american-animal-tracking-database/contributors?sort=contest

Thanks to the following folks for leading the way...

Chris Hass (107 observations of 45 taxa)
Rob Speiden (83 observations of 39 taxa)
Kim Cabera (77 observations of 31 taxa)
Filip Tkaczyk (26 observations of 23 taxa)

As of today (Aug 31, 2013) we have 579 observations of 217 different taxa. This included 104 mammals, 55 birds, 30 insects, 18 herps, 4 arachnids, and several other groups.

Please remember to add accuracy to your observations if at all possible. This lets us know how the data can be used in future analyses and greatly improves the value of your observations.