iNaturalist Tracking Database

These are recent observations from the North American Animal Tracking Database, an iNaturalist project where naturalists and trackers can share their observations and contribute to research projects.

iNaturalist is an amazing tool for learning about wildlife, sharing your observations, meeting people with similar interests, and contributing to research projects. Click on some of the photos below to open up the full observation on the iNaturalist website.

Click here to read my post on how to add your observations to the tracking project.

The first 3000 observations.

The first 3000 observations.

  • cerf de Virginie
    medium

  • American Barn Owl
    Apparent evidence of presence--whitewash and pellets in a suitable barn


  • Pellet

  • Hares and Rabbits
    medium

  • Hares and Rabbits
    medium

  • Red Imported Fire Ant
    medium


  • Tracks in sand

  • Animals
    scratch marks and paw prints

  • Animals
    paw prints towards a hole

  • Coyote
    medium

  • Groundhog
    Tracks

  • Groundhog
    Tracks

  • American Mink
    scat

  • Gouty Stem Gall Wasp
    medium


  • This jet-black scat was startling unlike dog (or even the typical gray coyote scat) that I’ve seen previously.


  • medium

  • Spiny Softshell
    I think? Maybe I'm being crazy thinking I can identify this to species, but I saw one run into the water and it looked large and flat. Turned out there were many similar-sized trails going into and out of the water, and I wasn't sure which was the most recent.

  • Common Snapping Turtle
    Tracks and tail drag

  • American Beaver
    medium

  • American Mink
    medium

  • Canids
    medium

  • Brown Rat
    rat poop.

  • Brown Rat
    medium

  • Snowy Egret
    12th and Harrison Sts, Downtown Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron and snowy egret urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    not sure if this young bcnh was of fledgling age or not, nor whether it died from fall or road kill, as the remains have been run over many times by vehicles on a downtown street that is busy in the daytime, not leaving enough evidence. 12th and Harrison Sts, Downtown Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron and snowy egret urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    unoccupied nest. this nest was occupied earlier in the year. first year observing bcnh using man-made material (paper) in nests. Lincoln Elementary School, 10th St, Chinatown, Oakland, CA, Black-crowned night heron urban rookery.

  • Black-tailed Jackrabbit
    scat, scattered for quite a ways on the trail

  • Holarctic Bears
    Rub tree with bite for communication

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    successfully hatched! 10th and Madison Sts, Chinatown, Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    successfully hatched! 10th and Madison Sts, Chinatown, Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron urban rookery.

  • cerf de Virginie
    medium

  • Hares and Rabbits
    medium

  • Hares and Rabbits
    medium

  • Coyote
    medium

  • Groundhog
    Tracks

  • Groundhog
    Tracks

  • American Mink
    scat


  • This jet-black scat was startling unlike dog (or even the typical gray coyote scat) that I’ve seen previously.

  • American Beaver
    medium

  • American Mink
    medium

  • Canids
    medium

  • Brown Rat
    rat poop.

  • Brown Rat
    medium

  • Black-tailed Jackrabbit
    scat, scattered for quite a ways on the trail

  • Holarctic Bears
    Rub tree with bite for communication

  • North American River Otter
    medium


  • medium

  • Wolves and Dogs
    medium

  • North American River Otter
    medium

  • Sitka Black-tailed Deer
    Us 5 men's xtratuf boot for scale

  • American Black Bear
    Along salmon stream, the snow just melted, I think this was under the snow as it doesn't seem fresh

  • Woodrats
    Observed nest.

  • Carnivorans
    scat

  • Coast Mole
    Down in stream bed bank during drought of summer.

  • Meadow Voles
    teeth in scat

  • Carnivorans
    medium

  • Domestic Horse
    medium

  • Dusky-footed Woodrat
    medium

  • American Black Bear
    Stomp trails

  • American Black Bear
    Bed

  • American Barn Owl
    Apparent evidence of presence--whitewash and pellets in a suitable barn


  • Pellet


  • Tracks in sand


  • medium

  • Snowy Egret
    12th and Harrison Sts, Downtown Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron and snowy egret urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    not sure if this young bcnh was of fledgling age or not, nor whether it died from fall or road kill, as the remains have been run over many times by vehicles on a downtown street that is busy in the daytime, not leaving enough evidence. 12th and Harrison Sts, Downtown Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron and snowy egret urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    unoccupied nest. this nest was occupied earlier in the year. first year observing bcnh using man-made material (paper) in nests. Lincoln Elementary School, 10th St, Chinatown, Oakland, CA, Black-crowned night heron urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    successfully hatched! 10th and Madison Sts, Chinatown, Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    successfully hatched! 10th and Madison Sts, Chinatown, Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    10th and Oak Sts, Downtown Oakland, black-crowned night heron and snowy egret urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    successfully hatched! 10th and Oak Sts, Downtown Oakland, black-crowned night heron and snowy egret urban rookery.

  • American Barn Owl
    Owl pellet under the tree where the Barn Owl roosts. Diameter: 2 in (5 cm)

  • Gulls
    Pellet.


  • Owl pellet I believe?


  • These pellets were found in an area cohabitated by a barn owl and a great horned owl. I am curious if there is evidence of which species might have left the pellets. Thank you!


  • Depressions in sand from dust bathing


  • medium


  • medium

  • Owls
    Owl pellet on the road near area I’ve seen a pair of GHOW recently fledge owlets

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    10th and Madison Sts, Chinatown, Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    10th and Madison Sts, Chinatown, Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron urban rookery.

  • Snowy Egret
    both successfully hatched! side-by-side for comparison. bcnh eggs are slightly larger, less oblong and more rounded than snowy eggs. snowy eggs tend toward a deeper blue, too. Also, the snowy exit hole tends too be less wide, smaller and toward the top of the egg than bcnh. found at the 12th and Harrison Sts, Downtown Oakland, black-crowned night heron and snowy egret urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    both successfully hatched! side-by-side for comparison. bcnh eggs are slightly larger, less oblong and more rounded than snowy eggs. snowy eggs tend toward a deeper blue, too. Also, the snowy exit hole tends too be less wide, smaller and toward the top of the egg than bcnh. found at the 12th and Harrison Sts, Downtown Oakland, black-crowned night heron and snowy egret urban rookery.


  • Found together in a small flat spot in wet meadow. No nest material or other obvious signs of nesting found.

  • Brown-headed Cowbird
    Observation for egg. I believe the nest is yellow warbler. See nest observation here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/367499106

  • Northern Yellow Warbler
    Observation for nest. I believe the egg is brown-headed cowbird. Here is the observation for the egg: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/367499919

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    smashed egg yolk and poop splatterfield, directly below active nest in the 10th and Madison Sts, Chinatown, Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    successfully hatched! 10th and Madison Sts, Chinatown, Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron urban rookery.

  • Black-crowned Night Heron
    successfully hatched! 10th and Madison Sts, Chinatown, Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron urban rookery.

  • Common Raven
    medium

  • Spiny Softshell
    I think? Maybe I'm being crazy thinking I can identify this to species, but I saw one run into the water and it looked large and flat. Turned out there were many similar-sized trails going into and out of the water, and I wasn't sure which was the most recent.

  • Common Snapping Turtle
    Tracks and tail drag

  • Snakes
    Spine and ribs

  • Southern Alligator Lizard
    medium

  • Reptiles
    medium

  • Florida Sand Skink
    medium

  • Florida Sand Skink
    medium

  • Frogs and Toads
    These eggs has just hatched, so it's hard to tell whether they're cooled strings or a mass. Both Mink Frogs and American Toads were singing.

  • Common Snapping Turtle
    medium

  • Florida Sand Skink
    medium

  • American Alligator
    medium

  • Eastern Collared Lizard
    Scats. Individuals were seen in vicinity but not photographed.

  • Snakes
    medium

  • Florida Sand Skink
    medium

  • Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard
    spotted the lizard running but it was too fast

  • Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard
    medium

  • Mojave Shovelnose Snake
    medium

  • American Alligator
    medium

  • Deirochelyine Turtles
    medium

  • Deirochelyine Turtles
    medium

  • Prairie Skink
    We puzzled over these tracks quite a bit. Found similar tracks in other sandy areas. I see a fairly wide drag mark in the middle and evenly spaced feet marks on either side. I looked at the Wisconsin DNR map and this is the only lizard in the area. There are no terrestrial turtles in this region.

  • Snakes
    Track from a Snake crossing the trail.

  • Florida Sand Skink
    medium

  • Florida Sand Skink
    medium

  • American Alligator
    medium

  • Pond Slider
    medium

  • American Alligator
    medium

  • American Alligator
    medium

  • tortue peinte
    Baby turtle

  • Snakes and Lizards
    medium

  • Red Imported Fire Ant
    medium

  • Animals
    scratch marks and paw prints

  • Animals
    paw prints towards a hole

  • Gouty Stem Gall Wasp
    medium

  • Vertebrates
    Scat


  • My dog stepped on a bee. She was licking her foot after playing in the clover at the park and I removed this stinger from between her toes.

  • Paw print
    medium

  • Red Swamp Crayfish
    crayfish bits stuck in a chunk of a black-crowned heron nest. separate observation for the nest https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/366661012 this piece of nest fell from a tree in the 10th and Madison Sts, Chinatown, Oakland, CA, black-crowned night heron urban rookery.


  • medium

  • Vertebrates
    bird? squirrel?

  • Animals
    Animal burrow perhaps? Not sure what would dig this. Obscuring it in case it is a sensitive species, but it was at Fort Zachary Taylor beach.


  • medium

  • Chinese Mantis
    Checking out Jack R Smiley Preserve. The weather has been cool and overcast but I'm taking any chance I get to go outside.

  • Wolf Spiders
    medium


  • medium

  • Vertebrates
    medium

  • Faxonius
    medium

  • North American Wheel Bug
    medium


  • medium

  • Vertebrates
    medium

  • Vertebrates
    medium

  • Vertebrates
    medium

  • Vertebrates
    medium

  • Vertebrates
    medium

  • Vertebrates
    medium

  • Vertebrates
    medium

  • Vertebrates
    medium

  • Vertebrates
    medium

  • Vertebrates
    medium

  • Vertebrates
    medium

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