# iNaturalist Observations Scraper — Species, Places & Photos (`hipersoft/inaturalist-scraper`) Actor

Collect wildlife and plant observations from iNaturalist: species (scientific and common name), place, coordinates, date, quality grade, observer and photos. Filter by taxon, place, quality or date and export as JSON, CSV or Excel for biodiversity research, education and mapping.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/hipersoft/inaturalist-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [hiper soft](https://apify.com/hipersoft) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.0001 / observation scraped

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## iNaturalist Observations Scraper — Species, Places & Photos

Collect **wildlife and plant observations from iNaturalist** with the **iNaturalist Observations Scraper**. Pull citizen-science records — **species (scientific and common name), place, coordinates, date, quality grade, observer and photos** — filtered by taxon, region, quality or date, and export each as **JSON, CSV or Excel**.

Built for **biodiversity and ecology research, education and citizen science, conservation and GIS mapping, and nature apps**, it turns millions of observations into a clean, structured dataset.

### What it does

- 🦋 **Species records** — scientific name, common name, rank and broad group (birds, plants, insects…).
- 📍 **Where & when** — place name, latitude/longitude and observation date.
- 🏅 **Quality grade** — research-grade, needs-ID or casual, plus identification and comment counts.
- 📸 **Photos** — a primary photo plus all photo URLs for each observation.
- 🎛️ **Filters** — by species/taxon, region (place ID), quality, date range and photos-only.
- 📤 **Export anywhere** — JSON, CSV or Excel, or straight into a map, notebook or app.

### Example output

```json
{
  "scientificName": "Panthera tigris",
  "commonName": "Tiger",
  "iconicTaxon": "Mammalia",
  "placeGuess": "Ranthambore, India",
  "latitude": 26.02,
  "longitude": 76.5,
  "observedOn": "2026-09-21",
  "qualityGrade": "research",
  "photo": "https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/.../medium.jpg",
  "url": "https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/402369556"
}
```

### How to use it

1. Enter a **species or taxon name** (or a free-text query / region).
2. Optionally set **quality grade**, **date range** and **photos-only**.
3. Set **Max observations** and run. Download as **JSON, CSV or Excel**.

### Input fields

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| **Species / taxon name** | Scientific or common name (e.g. Panthera, Monarch). |
| **Free-text search** | Optional query across observations. |
| **Place ID** | iNaturalist numeric place ID to restrict to a region. |
| **Quality grade** | Research-grade, needs-ID or casual. |
| **With photos only** | Only observations that include a photo. |
| **Observed from / to** | Date range as YYYY-MM-DD. |
| **Sort by** | Date added, date observed, faves or ID. |
| **Max observations** | Maximum records to collect. |

### Output fields

`id`, `scientificName`, `commonName`, `rank`, `iconicTaxon`, `observedOn`, `createdAt`, `placeGuess`, `latitude`, `longitude`, `qualityGrade`, `user`, `userName`, `identificationsCount`, `commentsCount`, `photoCount`, `photo`, `photos`, `license`, `url`.

### Popular use cases

- **Biodiversity research** — build species-occurrence datasets for any region.
- **Conservation & GIS** — map where a species has been recorded over time.
- **Education & citizen science** — pull observations for lessons and projects.
- **Nature apps** — surface recent local sightings with photos.
- **Analysis** — study seasonality and distribution by taxon and place.

### FAQ

**Do I need an account or key?**
No. Set your filters and run.

**Which observations are included?**
Public observations across all taxa — animals, plants, fungi and more — with optional filters for research-grade and photos.

**Can I restrict to one region?**
Yes — use a place ID to limit results to a country or area.

**Can I get only photographed observations?**
Yes — keep "With photos only" on (the default).

**Can I export to Excel or Google Sheets?**
Yes — results download as JSON, CSV or Excel and integrate with maps, notebooks and apps.

***

Structured **iNaturalist observation data** — species, place, coordinates, date and photos — clean and export-ready for biodiversity research, education and mapping.

# Actor input Schema

## `taxonName` (type: `string`):

Scientific or common name to filter by, e.g. "Panthera leo", "Monarch" or "Quercus". Leave empty for all species.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Free-text query across observations (place, notes, species). Leave empty to ignore.

## `placeId` (type: `string`):

iNaturalist numeric place ID to restrict results to a region (e.g. 1 = United States, 6803 = Canada). Leave empty for worldwide.

## `qualityGrade` (type: `string`):

Filter by data quality.

## `photosOnly` (type: `boolean`):

When on, return only observations that include at least one photo.

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

Earliest observation date, YYYY-MM-DD. Leave empty for no lower bound.

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

Latest observation date, YYYY-MM-DD. Leave empty for no upper bound.

## `orderBy` (type: `string`):

Order of returned observations (newest first).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of observations to collect.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy used to reach the source. The default (Apify residential) works out of the box; you can switch groups or supply your own if you prefer.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "taxonName": "Panthera",
  "query": "",
  "placeId": "",
  "qualityGrade": "",
  "photosOnly": true,
  "dateFrom": "",
  "dateTo": "",
  "orderBy": "created_at",
  "maxItems": 200,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

The results as dataset items.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "taxonName": "Panthera"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("hipersoft/inaturalist-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "taxonName": "Panthera" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("hipersoft/inaturalist-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "taxonName": "Panthera"
}' |
apify call hipersoft/inaturalist-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,hipersoft/inaturalist-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/BWmzBFvAh408teCS7/builds/ARPtRJXT82q3b60Bk/openapi.json