Nymphalis californica
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The California tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica) is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a California Tortoiseshell sighting in Seattle on a given day, based on 76 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 81st most-seen of the 428 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.
March–May and July–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a California Tortoiseshell in Seattle on a given day, against under 5% in June and November–February, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most California Tortoiseshell sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 8 cities where we can rate California Tortoiseshell sightings, Seattle ranks 6th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Salt Lake City (United States, about 10%), Portland (United States, about 10%) and San Francisco (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the California Tortoiseshell is recorded against all the insects logged in Seattle (76 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.
