Nymphalis californica
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
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 |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a California Tortoiseshell sighting in Grand Teton National Park on a given day, based on 81 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 7th most-seen of the 140 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May, July and September
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a California Tortoiseshell in Grand Teton National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to 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.
3rd of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate California Tortoiseshell sightings, Grand Teton National Park ranks 3rd at about 20%. The best odds are in Glacier National Park (United States, about 30%) and Yosemite National Park (United States, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the California Tortoiseshell is recorded against all the insects logged in Grand Teton National Park (81 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.
