A leading platform for documenting individual sightings worldwide, available as both a website and an app. It assists with species identification through expert and public input, as well as image recognition using artificial intelligence. You can report sightings of animals (alive or dead), signs of their presence such as tracks, droppings, or nests, as well as observations of plants and fungi.

• Coordination among iNaturalist members in Israel, including experts and curators
• Supporting local communities in launching and managing projects on the platform
• Enhancing regional biological knowledge (by adding Hebrew common names, local conservation statuses and more)
• Increasing platform accessibility, including translating it into Hebrew

BioCollect is the central tool of the Israeli database for collecting field data. It is an advanced yet user-friendly platform designed for scientists, ecologists, citizen scientists, and natural resource managers to collect and manage biodiversity data. Developed by the Atlas of Living Australia in partnership with various organizations, BioCollect supports users in gathering field data for their projects and facilitates the seamless transfer of new biodiversity data into the database. This allows data to be made available for research, policy-making, and management, enabling individual projects to contribute to “big science.” The app and database are free for public use.

1. Evaluation and follow-up activities, such as ad hoc surveys and protocol-based systematic structured surveys
2. Activity-based projects, such as cultivation, restoration, and weed and pest management and treatment

BioCollect also allows the uploading of unstructured data in the form of data files, gray literature, images, sound files, and video links. It assists in coordination between iNaturalist members in Israel, including experts and curators.

eBird is a global online database for bird sightings, and it stands as the world’s largest citizen science project focused on biodiversity. Every year, hundreds of thousands of birdwatchers around the world contribute over 100 million observations. The project is managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

eBird data records bird distribution, abundance, habitat use, and trends. The platform allows users to track their personal observations, which are openly available for scientific research, education, and conservation. eBird provides the most up-to-date and useful information to the birding community, offering features such as list management, photo and audio uploads, real-time species distribution maps, and notifications about specific sightings.

The free app enables offline data collection anywhere in the world, while the website offers various tools to explore and summarize personal data and other observations from the global eBird community.

Merlin Bird ID is a user-friendly app for identifying birds in the field, also managed by the Cornell Laboratory for Ornithology. Birds can be identified by photo or recording, aided by a list of possible species in the area, or by answering simple questions about the observation (such as date, location, bird colors, size, and landscape position). The app then generates a list of bird species that match the provided information. For each species, Merlin offers a database with photos, recordings, and identification markers. The app also interfaces with eBird, enabling direct reporting of identified species.