Woodland Skipper

Woodland Skipper

Ochlodes sylvanoides

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at San Francisco

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%

318 Verified sightings at San Francisco
310 In all 12 parks From 2019 to 2026
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Woodland Skipper

Ochlodes sylvanoides, the woodland skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in North America from British Columbia south to southern California, east to Montana, Colorado and Arizona. Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Olympic National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
2 Death Valley National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
3 Grand Teton National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
4 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
5 Great Bear Rainforest 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
6 Yosemite National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
7 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
8 Redwood National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
9 Zion National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
10 Glacier National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
11 Grand Canyon National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
12 Rocky Mountain National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Seattle 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
2 Portland 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
3 Vancouver 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
4 Calgary 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
5 Salt Lake City 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
6 San Francisco 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
7 Sacramento 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
8 San Diego 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
9 Denver 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
10 Los Angeles 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Woodland Skipper in San Francisco?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Woodland Skipper sighting in San Francisco on a given day, based on 318 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 78th most-seen of the 737 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Woodland Skipper in San Francisco?

July to September

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Woodland Skipper in San Francisco on a given day, against under 5% in October to June, the lowest months. Those are among San Francisco's driest months, with almost no rain against 110 mm in December.

What time of day is best to see a Woodland Skipper?

Between noon and 3 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Woodland Skipper sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is San Francisco the best place to see a Woodland Skipper?

6th of 10

Of the 10 cities where we can rate Woodland Skipper sightings, San Francisco ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Seattle (United States, about 20%), Portland (United States, about 10%) and Vancouver (Canada, about 10%).

Where does the Woodland Skipper sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Woodland Skipper is recorded against all the insects logged in San Francisco (318 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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