Satyrium calanus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Satyrium calanus, the banded hairstreak, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Hairstreak sighting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 334th most-seen of the 822 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.
June and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Hairstreak in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August to May, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Banded Hairstreak 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 4 parks where we can rate Banded Hairstreak sightings, Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Shenandoah National Park (United States, about 10%) and Acadia National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the Banded Hairstreak that you can see in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are Elkalyce comyntas (about 20%), Cyaniris neglecta (about 20%) and Red-Banded Hairstreak (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Banded Hairstreak is recorded against all the insects logged in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (16 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.
