How to use the data
The KFWIS species database is a collection of animal observations from professional biologists. It is not an absolute list of animals that or do not occur in Kentucky or specific counties. An animal not listed as occurring in a county or quad may be absent only because it has not been reported from that area. The KY State Nature Preserves Commission maintains a similar database that should be consulted for additional species occurrences. The information provided through this Internet application is not intended for making legal decisions based on the presence or absence of an animal in a particular area.

When looking at a record for an observation, the Reference link contains more information to evaluate the record as described below:
ID#: This OriginalDataID is a unique identifier which allows us to track the data back to its source.
Observed Date: Observation date and time associated with the record if known.
Observed Year: If the exact date of observation is not know, but the year of the observation is known, then this field is displayed
Publish Year: If the actual observation date or year is not known, then the date the observation was published is included
Project Description: Description of the source data, may include the technical publication associated with the data
Secondary Source: If the original source is a compilation of material, the secondary source provides a reference to the original source
Observer: The name of the observer. Maybe be "unknown" or "none" for older records.
Precision: This field indicates the precision of location information, with the following values
  • point A latitude and longitude was included. We do not know the exact precision of the device or map used to produce the coordinate.
  • 10-minute block The original coordinate is a generalization of a block of ten minutes of latitude and longitude, so thus refers to an area of at least 100 square miles.
  • County We only know the observation was within the county
  • County and Quad We know the observation was within the county and topographic quad
  • Quad We know the observation was within the topographic quad, so thus refers to an area up to 60 square miles.
  • Sixth of a quad We know the observation was within 1/6 of a topographic quad. This is used for Breeding Bird Atlas blocks. This is an area of up to 10 square miles.
  • 7.5 mile radius count circle For National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count data we know the observation was within a count circle of 7.5 miles radius. This is an area of around 177 square miles.
  • Review Status: This indicates the level of review by KDFWR biologists.
  • Reviewed A biologist has reviewed the record.
  • Not reviewed This is generally a common species, and a biologist has not reviewed the record.
  • Privacy Policy  |  Disclaimer  |  Individuals with Disabilities  |