GBIF

How to Use This API

1. Species Name Lookup

https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/match?name=Panthera%20leo

2. Occurrence Records (with coordinates)

https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search?q=Apus%20apus&limit=10&hasCoordinate=true

3. Get Occurrence by ID

https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/123456789

4. Species by Country

https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/search?q=Canada&datasetKey=50c9509d-22c7-4a22-a47d-8c48425ef4a7

5. JavaScript — Species Occurrence Map Data

async function getOccurrences(speciesName) {
  // First get the species key
  const match = await fetch(
    `https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/match?name=${speciesName}`
  );
  const species = await match.json();
  const speciesKey = species.usageKey;
  
  // Then get recent occurrences
  const occ = await fetch(
    `https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search?` +
    `speciesKey=${speciesKey}&limit=50&hasCoordinate=true`
  );
  const data = await occ.json();
  
  console.log(`${data.count} occurrences found for "${speciesName}":`);
  data.results.forEach(r => {
    if (r.decimalLatitude && r.decimalLongitude) {
      console.log(`  [${r.decimalLatitude}, ${r.decimalLongitude}] ` +
        `- ${r.eventDate?.slice(0, 10) || 'unknown date'}`);
    }
  });
}

getOccurrences('Apus apus'); // Common Swift

6. Python — Recent Bird Sightings

import requests

def recent_sightings(species_name, country='US', limit=5):
    match = requests.get(
        'https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/match',
        params={'name': species_name}
    ).json()
    key = match['usageKey']
    
    occ = requests.get(
        'https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search',
        params={
            'speciesKey': key,
            'country': country,
            'limit': limit,
            'hasCoordinate': True
        }
    ).json()
    
    print(f'Recent {species_name} sightings in {country}:')
    for r in occ['results']:
        lat = r.get('decimalLatitude', '?')
        lng = r.get('decimalLongitude', '?')
        date = r.get('eventDate', '')[:10] if r.get('eventDate') else '?'
        print(f'  {date} — [{lat}, {lng}]')

recent_sightings('Haliaeetus leucocephalus')  # Bald eagle