Inaturalist Api

Authentication

No authentication is required for read-only access to public data. The iNaturalist API v1 allows anonymous queries for observations, taxa, and places. Authentication via OAuth 2.0 is only needed for write operations such as creating observations, adding identifications, or managing projects.

For authenticated requests, register an application at https://www.inaturalist.org/oauth/applications and use the OAuth 2.0 flow to obtain an access token.

Core Endpoints

observations: Search Biodiversity Observations

Query the iNaturalist observation database with filters for taxonomy, geography, time, and data quality.

• URL: GET https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/observations
• Parameters:

• Example:

curl "https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/observations?taxon_id=3&quality_grade=research&place_id=1&per_page=10"

• Response: Returns total_results, results array with id, species_guess, taxon (name, rank, ancestry), location (lat,lng), observed_on, quality_grade, photos, user, identifications_count, and geojson.

taxa: Taxonomic Information

Look up taxonomic information, search for species, and retrieve taxonomic hierarchies.

• URL: GET https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/taxa
• Parameters:

• Example:

curl "https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/taxa?q=monarch+butterfly&rank=species"

• Response: Returns results array with id, name, preferred_common_name, rank, observations_count, ancestors, default_photo, wikipedia_url, and conservation_status.

places: Geographic Place Boundaries

Retrieve geographic place definitions used for filtering observations.

• URL: GET https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/places
• Parameters:

• Example:

curl "https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/places/autocomplete?q=Yellowstone"

• Response: Returns results with id, name, display_name, bounding_box_geojson, location, and admin_level.

Rate Limits

The iNaturalist API enforces a rate limit of 100 requests per minute. Exceeding this limit returns HTTP 429 responses. For large-scale data exports, iNaturalist recommends using their export tools at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/export or downloading the GBIF-shared dataset. The API also supports If-Modified-Since headers for efficient polling of updated records.

Common Patterns

Species Distribution Analysis

Retrieve research-grade observations of a species for distribution modeling:

import requests

params = {
    "taxon_id": 48484,  # Danaus plexippus (Monarch Butterfly)
    "quality_grade": "research",
    "per_page": 200,
    "order_by": "observed_on"
}

resp = requests.get("https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/observations", params=params)
data = resp.json()

for obs in data["results"]:
    if obs.get("location"):
        lat, lng = obs["location"].split(",")
        print(f"{obs['observed_on']}: ({lat}, {lng}) - {obs['taxon']['name']}")

Phenology Tracking

Monitor seasonal patterns by analyzing observation dates across years:

import requests
from collections import Counter

params = {
    "taxon_id": 48484,
    "quality_grade": "research",
    "per_page": 200,
    "place_id": 1  # United States
}

resp = requests.get("https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/observations", params=params)
months = Counter()

for obs in resp.json()["results"]:
    if obs.get("observed_on"):
        month = obs["observed_on"][5:7]
        months[month] += 1

for month in sorted(months):
    print(f"Month {month}: {months[month]} observations")

Invasive Species Monitoring

Track observations of invasive species in a specific region:

# Search for Spotted Lanternfly observations in Pennsylvania
curl "https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/observations?taxon_id=325295&place_id=46&quality_grade=research&per_page=50"

References

• Official API reference: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/api+reference
• API v1 documentation: https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/docs/
• iNaturalist homepage: https://www.inaturalist.org/
• Data export tools: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/export