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FAQs

• Why are there so many robin and crow photos, or so few photos of species x?
• Should I use the "unsure" or "unidentifiable" button?
• Why do I always see the species drop-down menu, even if I didn't select "uncommon species?"
• What should I do about non-bird animals?
• Where's the field guide?
• Hashtagging: How and why?
• What should I do if I get an "Already Seen" banner?
• This site seems baited, will it affect Snapshot Wisconsin data? Has the trail camera host been notified?

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Why are there so many robin and crow photos, or so few photos of species x?

Trail cameras for Snapshot Wisconsin are set up with the intention of capturing terrestrial animals such as deer and coyotes. Many of the birds that are most frequently captured by Snapshot Wisconsin cameras spend more time on the ground than other bird species. Additionally, the larger the animal, the more likely it will be to trigger the camera. For this reason, we see many larger birds such as great blue herons and ravens.

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Should I use the "unsure" or "unidentifiable" button?

Sometimes a trigger clearly contains a bird, but it is too blurry or too far away to make out any details. If no expert could identify the bird in the photo, select "unidentifiable." If you are not able to identify the bird but some details of the bird can be made out, select "unsure." By selecting "unsure," your vote will not count toward the final consensus of the bird classification.

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What do you mean by "uncommon species?"

There are nearly 300 species of bird known to occur in Wisconsin, but we estimate that about 90% of the bird photos will be composed of a smaller subset of 30 species. To make the classification interface user friendly, the main classification page asks the user to determine whether the species in a given trigger is one of those 30 most commonly seen species or if the species is one not commonly captured on Snapshot Wisconsin cameras. In this step, the user also identifies any evidence of breeding. To record species identification information for the remaining 10%, there is a drop-down menu for the user to identify any species beyond the 30 most common.

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Why do I always see the species drop-down menu, even if I didn't select "uncommon species?"

Zooniverse is a platform that provides incredible customization options for its projects. However, Zooniverse cannot account for every circumstance or possible customization requirement, so we are not able to hide the drop-down menu based on what was selected in the main screen. If the photo that you have classified did not contain an uncommon species, simply click "Done" to move on to the next subject or "Done and Talk" if you would like to share the subject to the chat boards.

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What should I do about non-bird animals?

It is not uncommon for triggers to include both birds and mammals, such as deer and raccoons. Most of the photos in Snapshot Wisconsin Bird Edition have already gone through an initial round of classification either from our trail camera hosts or through our main Zooniverse project page. Information about mammals is already recorded in our database, so other animals can be ignored for the purposes of this task.

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Where's the field guide?

Snapshot Wisconsin Bird Edition does not have a built-in field guide, so users will need to have preexisting identification skills or the ability to use an online or physical guide. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website has an excellent online bird guide.

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Hashtagging: How and why?

Zooniverse allows users to hashtag photos after classification. This is neat little trick that adds a linked tag to a photo so that after classification users can view all the photos that have been given the same hashtag.

To add a hashtag, click the "Talk" button after classifying a photo. You will be directed to the Notes board. Simply use the pound sign (#) and a word (with no spaces) to add a hashtag to the photo. For example, if you see an osprey and want to note it as such, you could add the hashtag #osprey. For bird species that are composed of more than one word, separate them with an underscore (e.g. indigo bunting would be indigo_bunting).

PLEASE do not create a hashtag if you are not sure your classification is correct. For unknown IDs, you can post photos in Talk to ask other users for help with classification without adding a hashtag or using the hashtag #whatis.

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What should I do if I get an "Already Seen" banner?

This is actually a great sign and indicates that we are getting near the end of the Season! Each photo needs at most 15 different volunteers to classify it before it is retired. This means that photos stick around in the system until enough volunteers have classified them. Because we serve up photos randomly to our volunteers, those who have done many classifications will start seeing the "Already Seen" banner more often as fewer photos remain.

If you see the banner, the best thing to do is to click refresh on the page and get a new photo. The reason we don't want you reclassifying the photo is that you are likely to classify it in the same way. It is better to have different individuals classifying a given photo--to get a "second opinion" from someone new, rather than duplicate the classification effort.

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This site seems baited, will it affect Snapshot Wisconsin data? Has the trail camera host been notified?

If you come across photos that look like bait, food or an animal carcass has been intentionally placed near the camera (which is not allowed by Snapshot Wisconsin), we ask you to classify the pictures as usual (please identify live animals only). Unfortunately, we cannot pull out pictures from a particular site mid-season, but we will filter out the data from baited sites after the season is over. In the meantime, Snapshot Wisconsin staff will notify the trail camera hosts to move the bait or camera. You can help by sharing the photo with a moderator or Snapshot Wisconsin team member. Usernames of moderators and team members are listed on the right side of the team member page. You may alternatively email it to DNRSnapshotWisconsin@Wisconsin.gov