How can I identify the common or Latin name of a plant or animal in my photo?
Asked 9/14/2010
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2 answers
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If I’ve photographed a plant, bird, insect, or other wildlife and want to identify it accurately for captions, competitions, or records, what’s a good way to find its common or scientific name? Resources that work beyond North America would be especially helpful.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
16y ago
2 Answers
4
I've played around with bird and insect photography and have found that (at least in north america), there are a few good sites for this:
- identify.whatbird.com - North American bird database that you can filter down and visually compare the subject to drawings and/or photos.
- bugguide.net - This one handles identification of bugs from the US and Canada, optionally by uploading an image, which will be classified by users of the site.
Originally by user67. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user67
16y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A practical approach is to combine visual reference tools with crowdsourced identification.
For birds and insects, specialist databases can help you narrow things down by appearance and region. Examples mentioned were WhatBird for North American birds and BugGuide for insects in the US/Canada. These are especially useful when you can filter by traits and compare your photo to examples.
Crowdsourcing can also work very well. Posting the image to a relevant Flickr identification group can get you an educated guess or even a confident ID from enthusiasts. Include as much context as possible: location, country, time of year, and any visible field marks.
You can also try reverse image search tools to find visually similar photos that may already be labeled with a common or Latin name. This can give you leads, though results may vary and should be verified.
Best practice: use more than one source before settling on an identification, especially for competitions or formal use. Region, season, and distinguishing details in the image are often critical to getting the name right.
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