Blue-Eyed Darner

Blue-Eyed Darner

Rhionaeschna multicolor

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Portland

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%

187 Verified sightings at Portland
43 In all 5 parks From 2019 to 2026
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Blue-Eyed Darner

The blue-eyed darner (Rhionaeschna multicolor, syn. Aeshna multicolor) is a common dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae; native to the western United States, it is commonly sighted in the sagebrush steppe of the Snake River Plain, occurring east to the Midwest from central Canada and the Dakotas south to west Texas and Oklahoma. In Central America it occurs south to Panama. This is usually the second earliest darner to emerge in the spring, with the California darner emerging first. It hunts small flying insects while on the wing. Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
2 Death Valley National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
3 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
4 Redwood National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
5 Great Bear Rainforest 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Toluca 🇲🇽 México
~10%
2 Puebla 🇲🇽 México
~10%
3 Portland 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
4 Sacramento 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
5 Denver 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
6 Seattle 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
7 Mexico City 🇲🇽 México
~10%
8 Salt Lake City 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
9 Vancouver 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
10 San Francisco 🇺🇸 United States
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Blue-Eyed Darner in Portland?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-Eyed Darner sighting in Portland on a given day, based on 187 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 46th most-seen of the 507 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Blue-Eyed Darner in Portland?

June and July

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-Eyed Darner in Portland on a given day, against under 5% in November to April, the lowest months. Those are among Portland's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain a month against 250 mm in December.

What time of day is best to see a Blue-Eyed Darner?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-Eyed Darner sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Portland the best place to see a Blue-Eyed Darner?

Among the best

Of the 16 cities where we can rate Blue-Eyed Darner sightings, Portland ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Toluca (México, about 10%) and Puebla (México, about 10%).

Where does the Blue-Eyed Darner sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Blue-Eyed Darner is recorded against all the insects logged in Portland (187 verified sightings), 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.

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