Snapshot Serengeti Talk

"I kind of know, but it's not an option"

  • jennysellmark by jennysellmark

    Sometimes the picture shows something you actually know, but there is no option in the meny, such as butterflies and bugs. What do you expect us to pick then? I use to go for "bird (other)" and every time I feel like an idiot who can´t tell the difference.

    Posted

  • areinders by areinders moderator

    Butterflies and bugs can be ignored, i.e. "nothing there". I would not classify them as birds, that is just confusing. If you see something really cool that you would like to point out to others you can always add a comment in discussions.

    Posted

  • sisige by sisige

    Just to add onto that, if you see an animal that's not on the list, like a steinbuck which looks similar to a reedbuck but with a black mark up the center of its face (and no spot by the ear), mark it as whatever seems closest on the list, and then comment on it. So, bugs you ignore, but any animals you should always pick something, even if you can't find an exact match. (At least, that's the information I've seen so far.) 😃

    Posted

  • areinders by areinders moderator in response to sisige's comment.

    Yes, I agree: Ignore bugs/butterflies, there is no option for insects/spiders etc. Report all birds that are not on the list as "bird, other" and report any other animal as the closest option you can find. Ideally that will be the correct ID but in some cases that species will not be on the list, so you pick the closest you can find. According to the blog that happened in the last season for "duiker" for instance, which was identified as various other antelope species. The reason to do this is to let the scientists know that there is an animal present and to give them the chance to add this image and the information contained in it to their analysis.
    Classifying insects as birds is not really helpful, since that is really not the closest species. The research project does not keep track of insects and in general I don't think that trail cameras are a good way of getting an idea about what species of insects are present in an area, there are better ways of doing that.

    Posted