Rare Species Sightings
How to report sightings of rare species to the Endangered and Nongame Species Program and resightings of banded shorebirds for the International Shorebird Project.
Zoom+ Black-crowned night heron. © Steve Byland
Reporting Rare Wildlife Sightings
To help protect rare and imperiled species, we must be able to identify where they occur and what habitat they need to exist. By reporting species sightings to the Endangered and Nongame Species Program, you can help biologists build a picture of our state’s biodiversity.
The Endangered and Nongame Species Program asks the public to submit sightings through a form found on its website.
The form asks for information such as:
- Location of the sighting shown on an aerial photo or Google map
- Photo of sighting
- Description of the habitat
- Date and time of the sighting
- How the species was identified
A rare sightings form can be downloaded here.
A list of the rare species currently tracked by the Endangered and Nongame Species Program is available in the PDF file available below:
 | NJ's List of Rare Species, updated March 2016 - 203.5KB |
Download a folder containing a formatted Excel spreadsheet for electronic submittal of rare wildlife observations (also contains a list of species for which observation data is being sought).
 | Rare Wildlife Observation Forms - 24.9KB |
Zoom+ A red knot in breeding plumage along the Delaware Bay. © Bill Dalton
Shorebird Resightings
Since the mid 1990’s the International Shorebird Team has placed colorful bands on thousands of shorebirds. Each band has a unique identifier and can be read with a good quality spotting scope. By sending in information from these banded bands, researchers and the public can identify where the shorebirds – red knots, semipalmated sandpipers, ruddy turnstones, and sanderlings – were banded and where they winter, breed, and stop over during migration.
The website allows anyone living along the flyway to submit data on resightings for these birds and contribute to an amazing scientific collaboration designed to protect these birds from further decline, and in the case of the red knot, imminent extinction.
Our Species
Explore our online field guide that depicts over 200 species of rare wildlife in New Jersey and learn about how we are working to protect them.
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