Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC) Observation Reporting Form

This form can be used to submit casual sightings of species of conservation concern including species at risk and provincially rare species in Ontario.

Please note that you should only report one sighting per form submission. Once you have submitted the form, you can start a new submission to report another sighting.

 

We will review the information you share and evaluate for inclusion into the official provincial record. This information is used by a wide variety of agencies and researchers to study, protect, and plan for Ontario’s natural heritage.

The NHIC collects all observations of species of conservation concern, however, please note that some locations have more significance to the conservation of species than others (for example, a Bald Eagle nesting site is more significant than a Bald Eagle passing overhead). As a result, some submissions may not appear in our online data or be loaded to our database.

For alternative ways to report sightings (for example, to submit multiple sightings), and to learn how the information you submit will be used, please visit the NHIC rare species reporting webpage.

If you have any questions about using this form or if you have any accommodation needs, please email us at: NHICrequests@ontario.ca.

This survey should take around 5 minutes to complete.

Species Common or Scientific Name (e.g. Bald Eagle, or Haliaeetus leucocephalus, etc.). If you do not know the species name, enter ‘unknown’.
Select a calendar date, or approximate date, of when you saw the species (or last saw the species).
Please include details of the event, such as: count, crossing the road, adult/juvenile, in an urban or a natural setting, etc.

Map the location and submit your photo 

Where did you see it? 

Zoom to the location of the sighting using the map below, click to mark the location.

Note: Before you drop the pin on the map, zoom in as close as possible to ensure the pin is accurately placed.

Photo?

If you took a photo of the species and would like to share it, you can attach it to the bottom of the map.

Note: Files must be less than 2 MB. Allowed file types: gif, jpg, jpeg, png.

One file only.
512 MB limit.
Allowed types: gif, jpg, jpeg, png, bmp, eps, tif, pict, psd, txt, rtf, html, odf, pdf, doc, docx, ppt, pptx, xls, xlsx, xml, avi, mov, mp3, mp4, ogg, wav, bz2, dmg, gz, jar, rar, sit, svg, tar, zip.

Additional Details

In addition to providing the mapped location, it is very helpful to include a place name of where the observation was made such as an address or nearest intersection, etc.
If there is no photo to share, please describe how you identified the species from other similar looking species. Without a photo or a description, we may not be able to verify the observation.

Who saw the species?

Please do not enter the names of any private citizens or contact information besides yourself in any part of this form.

It is helpful to include your email address in the event we have additional questions about the sighting.

Permission

By submitting this form you are agreeing to the following:

  • The Government of Ontario may use your name and observations to inform the provincial record.
  • Ontario government staff may use your name and contact information (if provided) to verify the observation
  • Your name and observations (contained in the provincial record) may be accessed by non-government agencies, organizations, researchers, and individuals. Personal contact information (if provided) will not be disclosed.