About Snapshot Wisconsin

What is Snapshot Wisconsin Bird Edition?

Snapshot Wisconsin is a statewide trail camera monitoring project originally aimed to collect data about the state's populations of deer, elk, and large carnivores. Since the project's launch in 2015, thousands of photos of other animals have also been collected, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has jumped at the opportunity to make use of this data by integrating it into wildlife management decision making processes. Snapshot Wisconsin Bird Edition is a collaboration between Snapshot Wisconsin and the Wisconsin DNR Natural Heritage Conservation. The goal is to identify all of Snapshot Wisconsin's bird images to a species level and to look for evidence of breeding. Breeding observations will be reported to the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II and observations of uncommon, rare, or endangered species will be reported to the Natural Heritage Conservation.

What is Snapshot Wisconsin?

Snapshot Wisconsin is a statewide wildlife monitoring program that relies on volunteers to host trail cameras throughout the year. Trail cameras are mounted to trees or posts and take photos when triggered by the movement and heat of a passing animal. Once the photos are uploaded and classified by the Zooniverse community, they become data that can be used to understand patterns of animal occurrence.

What Does Snapshot Wisconsin do?

Our main objective is to gather wildlife data using the power of citizen science. Using WDNR’s equipment and training, volunteers set up trail cameras and monitor them year-round. Volunteers can now apply to host a camera anywhere in Wisconsin where they have access to land (visit our website for more information). Trail camera volunteers set up a camera and retrieve SD cards (containing saved photos) at least four times per year. Volunteers upload the photos to WDNR to post on Zooniverse. Visit our WDNR project page for statistics on volunteer participation and number of photos collected.

Why Snapshot Wisconsin needs your help!

A single trail camera can take thousands of photographs each month. Zooniverse users help to make all these photos meaningful by classifying the type and number of animals in each. Because we know where and when these photos were taken, we can create maps for both common and rare species across the state and visualize how animal populations change through time.