iNaturalist Species Observations Scraper

iNaturalist Species Observations Scraper — a fast, reliable inaturalist scraper that needs no API key. You pay only for the results you get: failed or empty runs are always free.

This inaturalist scraper runs on the Apify platform, so you can call it from the API, run it on a schedule, or export results to JSON, CSV, Excel, or Google Sheets.

What this scraper does

• Extracts structured inaturalist data with no browser or API key required
• Returns clean JSON, one record per result — ready for sheets, databases, or apps
• Pay-per-result pricing: you are never charged for a run that returns nothing
• Runs on demand or on a schedule, and integrates with 5,000+ apps via the Apify API and webhooks

What data you get

Each result record includes fields such as:

• Id (id) — e.g. 380461376
• Species Guess (speciesGuess) — e.g. "Monarch"
• Scientific Name (scientificName) — e.g. "Danaus plexippus"
• Common Name (commonName) — e.g. "Monarch"
• Rank (rank) — e.g. "species"
• Iconic Taxon (iconicTaxon) — e.g. "Insecta"
• Observed On (observedOn) — e.g. "2026-07-11"
• Place Guess (placeGuess) — e.g. "Restricted Access: Camp Edwards, Sandwich, MA, USA"
• Latitude (latitude) — e.g. 41.7353852465
• Longitude (longitude) — e.g. -70.5261099427
• User (user) — e.g. "jakemccumber"
• User Name (userName) — e.g. "Jake McCumber"
• Quality Grade (qualityGrade) — e.g. "research"
• Identifications Count (identificationsCount) — e.g. 1
• Photo Url (photoUrl) — e.g. "https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/69...

Input

Field	Type	Description
searchTerms	array	Free-text queries (species common or scientific names, e.g. 'monarch butterfly'). One scrape task is create...
taxonName	string	Optional exact taxon name to constrain results (e.g. 'Danaus plexippus'). Applied to every search term; use...
qualityGrade	string	Filter observations by iNaturalist data-quality grade.
maxResults	integer	Maximum number of observations to return per search term/taxon.

Example output

{
  "type": "observation",
  "id": 380461376,
  "speciesGuess": "Monarch",
  "scientificName": "Danaus plexippus",
  "commonName": "Monarch",
  "rank": "species",
  "iconicTaxon": "Insecta",
  "observedOn": "2026-07-11",
  "placeGuess": "Restricted Access: Camp Edwards, Sandwich, MA, USA",
  "latitude": 41.7353852465,
  "longitude": -70.5261099427,
  "user": "jakemccumber",
  "userName": "Jake McCumber",
  "qualityGrade": "research",
  "identificationsCount": 1,
  "photoUrl": "https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/696041205/square.jpg",
  "url": "https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/380461376",
  "query": "monarch butterfly",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-07-11T00:00:00Z"
}

Use cases

• Automate research and data collection
• Feed dashboards, sheets, and databases
• Enrich records in your CRM or app
• Monitor changes on a schedule

Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-result pricing at $0.0004 per record. There is no monthly fee and no start fee — and empty or failed runs cost $0, so you only ever pay for data you actually receive.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an API key or account for the source? No. This inaturalist scraper works out of the box with no API key required.

What happens if a run returns no results? You are not charged. Billing is per result, so empty or failed runs are free.

Can I run the inaturalist scraper on a schedule? Yes. Use the Apify Scheduler to run it hourly, daily, or on any cron schedule, and get results by webhook or API.

What export formats are supported? Results can be exported as JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML, or pushed to Google Sheets, a database, or your own app via the Apify API.

Is the data structured? Yes. Every inaturalist result is a clean, flat JSON record you can use immediately.