Sightings

Sightings is a field data collection app that makes it easy to record location data for natural history observations. You’re out in the bush. You see a night parrot. You add a record in Sightings, start typing ‘nigh…’, select ‘night parrot’ from the auto-complete list, and you have a permanent record of the date, time and location of your sighting. Sightings comes preloaded with the common and scientific names of all Australian tetrapods (birds, mammals, reptiles, frogs), plus most Australian butterflies and dragonflies. You can also upload additional names if your taxon of interest is missing. Sightings can be used to record the location of anything, not just animals.

You can then email the list of records to yourself, or connect your iPhone to your computer and download a CSV/GPX file through iTunes.

Important notes:

Your records are not shared with anyone else or uploaded to the Internet - only you have access to them.

This app requires GPS hardware for effective use. iPod touch and the original iPhone don't provide the level of accuracy required for obtaining precise locations.

The GPS hardware works separately to the phone communication hardware, so you can still use this app to record locations even if you don't have phone reception.

Warning: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.