How to Identify a Species
When you find a species that you want to identify, where do you start?
First, try to fit it into a broad category. Is it an animal or a plant - or a fungi, or a piece of rock, or a cloud, etc..?
Can you narrow it down any further? If, for instance, it looks like a butterfly or moth, then you can ignore identification information about flies.
Next, think about what resources you have, or could get, that might be helpful.
If you have a field guide, either a book or online, start by flicking through the relevant section and just looking at the pictures to find something similar. Most guides are arranged with similar species nearby.
Many guides highlight some characteristics to look for, to confirm an identification. Many also mention similar looking species, and note how to tell this species apart from similar ones.
Resist the temptation to decide that it must be the first thing you find that looks similar. Take some time to check details such as distribution/behaviour/colour/shape size etc. The relevant details will depend on what you are examining.
Male chaffinch.
Once you think you have the species figured out, read a bit about it to see if the related information makes sense. This will help to confirm if your identification is correct.
Remember the limitations of your identification material too - few field guides cover all the species in an area, or maybe not all of the possible species are pictured.
Double-check information about where the species is usually found as well. This is sometimes shown on a map, and other times included in the text. If the guide describes what you think you have as an alpine species, but you have found it in a coastal town, then it is unlikely your identification is correct.
You might find there is some detail you need to know before you can decide on an identification, which you still don't have. It is not always possible to go back and see the same thing again, but it may be, and it can be very informative to look at the subject again, after you have thought about what it might be.
If you think you have figured out what it is you have, then you have a powerful piece of knowledge. You can now reverse the process and look up all you can find out about the species that other people have seen and noted.