Getting the most from nature documentaries and citizen science projects

Watching documentaries with a curious eye

• Remember that it is edited. A sequence may combine footage filmed on different days, or even of different individual animals, to tell a clear story. Sounds are often added afterwards. That is standard practice, and many series explain their methods in behind-the-scenes segments.
• Watch the making-of sections. They reveal how much patience and technology goes into a few minutes of film, and often explain how crews tried to avoid disturbing animals.
• Notice the framing. Music and narration shape how we feel about predators and prey. Ask what the scene would look like without them.
• Look for the science. Good documentaries credit scientific advisers or mention research. If a striking claim is made, look up the species or behaviour afterwards in a reputable source.
• Watch the conservation message. Many recent series discuss threats to the places they film. Consider what you can do locally rather than feeling helpless about faraway problems.

Making viewing more active

• Keep a list of species you want to learn more about, and read up on one each week.
• Watch with children and pause to ask questions: why do you think it did that, where does it live, what does it eat?
• Look for the local equivalent. If a series features an exotic heron, find out which herons live near you.
• Go outside afterwards. Even a city park has insects, birds and fungi worth looking at closely.

What citizen science is

Projects you can join

• Garden and park counts. In the UK, the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch asks people to count birds for one hour over a weekend each January. Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count runs each summer and asks for a 15-minute count in a sunny spot. Many countries run similar annual counts.
• Recording apps. iNaturalist lets you photograph plants, animals and fungi; other users help identify them, and good-quality records can feed into biodiversity databases used by researchers.
• Online classification. Platforms such as Zooniverse let you help from home by classifying images from camera traps, telescopes or historical records.
• Recording schemes and local records centres. Most countries have schemes for particular groups, from bats to dragonflies, and local records centres collect sightings for their area.
• Seasonal and long-term surveys. Some ask volunteers to visit the same patch regularly, which produces especially valuable data.

Tips for useful records

1. Note the date, time and exact location. A sighting without these is of limited use.
2. Take clear photos from several angles where you can, without disturbing the animal or picking the plant.
3. Record what you did not see too, if the project asks. Zero counts help show declines.
4. Do not guess. If you are unsure of an identification, say so. Experts would rather have an honest unknown than a confident mistake.
5. Follow the method. Counting for the set time in the set way is what makes results comparable.
6. Protect sensitive species. Many platforms hide exact locations for rare or threatened species; respect that when sharing elsewhere.

Getting started