iNaturalist Species & Observations Scraper

Scrape wildlife observation data from iNaturalist — the world's largest citizen-science nature platform with over 200 million verified wildlife sightings contributed by millions of naturalists worldwide.

What can it do?

• Search wildlife observations by species name (common or scientific), with location, date, and quality filters
• Search species/taxa — find species by name with full taxonomic details
• Browse observations by place — get all observations from a specific country or region
• Discover common species — find the most-observed species in any location

No API key or authentication required — completely free to use.

Input

Field	Type	Description
mode	select	What to fetch: searchObservations, searchTaxa, observationsByPlace, commonSpecies
taxonName	text	Species common or scientific name (e.g. "eagle", "red fox", "Vulpes vulpes")
placeName	text	Country or region name (e.g. "United States", "California", "France")
qualityGrade	select	Filter by quality grade: research, needs_id, casual, any
taxonGroup	select	Filter by taxonomic group: birds, mammals, insects, plants, etc.
yearFrom	integer	Start year for date filter (default: 2020)
yearTo	integer	End year for date filter (default: 2024)
maxItems	integer	Maximum records to return, 1–500 (default: 50)

Output — Observations

Field	Description
observationId	Unique iNaturalist observation ID
speciesName	Scientific species name (e.g. "Vulpes vulpes")
commonName	Common name (e.g. "Red Fox")
taxonGroup	Broad taxonomic group (Aves, Mammalia, Insecta, etc.)
taxonRank	Taxonomic rank (species, genus, family, etc.)
taxonId	iNaturalist taxon ID
latitude	Observation latitude
longitude	Observation longitude
placeName	Human-readable place name
observedOn	Date the organism was observed (YYYY-MM-DD)
qualityGrade	Quality grade: research, needs_id, or casual
observerName	Username of the observer
imageUrl	URL to observation photo
mapsUrl	Link to the observation page on iNaturalist
wikipediaUrl	Wikipedia article for the species (when available)
scrapedAt	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the record was scraped

Output — Taxa (searchTaxa mode)

Field	Description
taxonId	iNaturalist taxon ID
name	Scientific name
commonName	Common/preferred name
rank	Taxonomic rank
taxonGroup	Iconic taxon group
observationsCount	Total observations on iNaturalist
ancestorIds	Array of ancestor taxon IDs
imageUrl	Representative species photo URL
wikipediaUrl	Wikipedia article URL
taxonPageUrl	iNaturalist taxon page URL
scrapedAt	ISO 8601 timestamp

Output — Common Species (commonSpecies mode)

Same as taxa output, with an additional queryPlace field (the input place name) and observationsCount showing observation frequency in that location.

Example Use Cases

• Track wildlife populations in specific regions
• Build species distribution maps
• Research invasive species observations
• Monitor rare or endangered species sightings
• Compile biodiversity reports by region or taxon group

Modes

searchObservations (default)

Search for observations of a specific species across the globe. Filter by quality grade, taxon group, and date range.

Example: Find all research-grade red fox observations from 2022–2024

{
  "mode": "searchObservations",
  "taxonName": "red fox",
  "qualityGrade": "research",
  "yearFrom": 2022,
  "yearTo": 2024,
  "maxItems": 50
}

searchTaxa

Look up species and taxonomic groups by name. Returns full taxonomic details including observation counts and Wikipedia links.

Example: Find all eagle species

{
  "mode": "searchTaxa",
  "taxonName": "eagle",
  "taxonGroup": "Aves",
  "maxItems": 30
}

observationsByPlace

Get observations from a specific country or region. Useful for geographic biodiversity research.

Example: Bird observations in France

{
  "mode": "observationsByPlace",
  "placeName": "France",
  "taxonGroup": "Aves",
  "qualityGrade": "research",
  "maxItems": 100
}

commonSpecies

Find the most frequently observed species in any location. Great for understanding local biodiversity.

Example: Top mammals in California

{
  "mode": "commonSpecies",
  "placeName": "California",
  "taxonGroup": "Mammalia",
  "maxItems": 50
}

Quality Grades

• research — Observations verified by community agreement; highest accuracy
• needs_id — Submitted but awaiting identification confirmation
• casual — Missing location data, date, or other required fields
• any — Include all quality grades

Supported Taxon Groups

Birds (Aves), Mammals (Mammalia), Insects (Insecta), Reptiles (Reptilia), Amphibians (Amphibia), Plants (Plantae), Fungi, Fish (Actinopterygii), Mollusks (Mollusca), Arachnids (Arachnida)

FAQs

Do I need an API key? No. The iNaturalist API is completely free for read-only access. No registration required.

How many results can I get? Up to 500 per run. iNaturalist has millions of observations, so filters (taxon name, place, date range, quality grade) help narrow results.

What is "research grade"? Research grade observations have been confirmed by at least two independent identifiers on iNaturalist, making them the most reliable for scientific use.

Can I get data for a specific country? Yes — use observationsByPlace mode with a country name like "Germany" or "Brazil", or use commonSpecies to find the top species in that country.

Are the photos freely available? Photo availability depends on each contributor's license. Check the mapsUrl link for full attribution details.

What's the data coverage? iNaturalist has observations from all countries with over 200 million records, the majority research-grade from community verification.