What are observation fields?
Observation fields are a way to add extra details to any observation. For example, if you've got a butterfly observation, you can add the observation field "insect lifestage" and set it to "adult". If you photographed a caterpillar of the same species, you could set the "insect lifestage" field to "larva".
This adds extra value to observations. That's because it makes these details much easier for researchers to find and use than if they were written down in lots of different ways in paragraphs in the observations' descriptions. For example, insect lifestage lets researchers quickly figure out at what time of year adult butterflies are flying, since they can quickly separate observations of adults from observations of eggs, larvae, and pupae.
Any user can add observation field details to any observation. Just start typing the field name into the "Choose a field" box under the "Observation Fields" heading on any observation web page.
Recommended fields
Observation fields work best when everyone uses the same field for a particular purpose. With that in mind, at the following link is the list of all fields already used.
Comments
382 pages is a lot of fields! Is there any sort of order or a sense to them?
Thank you!
The easiest way to navigate the many fields is to type in the search bar to the right of the title the field you are looking for (i.e. habitat) and pick the one that most closely matches your need.
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