Syrphus opinator
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Syrphus opinator, the black-margined flower fly, is a species of syrphid fly in the family Syrphidae. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-Margined Flower Fly sighting in Banff National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 36th most-seen of the 105 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-Margined Flower Fly in Banff National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to June, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-Margined Flower Fly sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Black-Margined Flower Fly sightings, Banff National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (Canada, about 10%) and Redwood National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Syrphidae
The closest relatives of the Black-Margined Flower Fly that you can see in Banff National Park (family Syrphidae, Hover Flies) are Common Drone Fly (about 30%), White-Bowed Smoothwing (about 10%) and Common Loopwing Aphideater (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-Margined Flower Fly is recorded against all the insects logged in Banff National Park (17 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
