`top_species`

Pack: inaturalist · Endpoint: https://gateway.pipeworx.io/inaturalist/mcp

Most-frequently-observed species in a place over a date range. Auto-resolves place name to place_id. Returns ranked species with observation counts and taxonomic info. Great for “what wildlife lives here?” questions.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`place`	string	yes	Place name (country, state, park, etc.)
`year`	number	no	Restrict to a specific year (optional)
`per_page`	number	no	Top-N species (1-50, default 20)

Example call

Arguments

{
  "place": "Yosemite National Park"
}

curl

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/inaturalist/mcp \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"top_species","arguments":{"place":"Yosemite National Park"}}}'

TypeScript (@pipeworx/sdk)

import { Pipeworx } from '@pipeworx/sdk';
const pipeworx = new Pipeworx();

const result = await pipeworx.call('top_species', {
  "place": "Yosemite National Park"
});

More examples

{
  "place": "Costa Rica",
  "year": 2023,
  "per_page": 30
}

Response shape

Always returns: resolved, total_unique_species, top_species

Field	Type	Description
`resolved`	object \| null	Resolved place information
`note`	string	Error note if place could not be resolved
`total_unique_species`	number	Total unique species count in place
`top_species`	array	Array of top-observed species

Full JSON Schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "resolved": {
      "type": [
        "object",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "Resolved place information",
      "properties": {
        "place": {
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
            "id": {
              "type": "number",
              "description": "Place ID"
            },
            "name": {
              "type": "string",
              "description": "Place name"
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "note": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Error note if place could not be resolved"
    },
    "total_unique_species": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "Total unique species count in place"
    },
    "top_species": {
      "type": "array",
      "description": "Array of top-observed species",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "observation_count": {
            "type": "number",
            "description": "Number of observations"
          },
          "taxon_id": {
            "type": "number",
            "description": "Taxon ID"
          },
          "scientific_name": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Scientific name"
          },
          "common_name": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Common name"
          },
          "rank": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Taxonomic rank"
          },
          "photo": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Photo URL"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "resolved",
    "total_unique_species",
    "top_species"
  ]
}

Connect

Add this to your MCP client config, or use one-click install buttons:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "inaturalist": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/inaturalist/mcp"
    }
  }
}

See Getting Started for client-specific install steps.

top_species