Sciurus aberti
Silhouette: Chloé Schmidt · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Abert's squirrel or the tassel-eared squirrel (Sciurus aberti) is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus native to the southern Rocky Mountains from the United States to the northern Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico, with concentrations found in Arizona, New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado. It is closely associated with, and largely confined to, mature ponderosa pine forests. It is named in honor of the American naturalist John James Abert; nine subspecies are recognised. It is recognizable by its tufted ears, gray color, pale underparts and rufous patch on the lower back. The squirrel feeds on the seeds and cones of the Mexican pinyon and the ponderosa pine when they are available, but will also take fungi, buds, bark, and carrion. Breeding normally occurs in summer, with a spherical nest being built high in the canopy.
Abert's squirrel is named after Colonel John James Abert, an American naturalist and military officer who headed the Corps of Topographical Engineers and organized the effort to map the American West in the 19th century.
The currently accepted scientific name for Abert's squirrel is Sciurus aberti Woodhouse, 1853. Woodhouse had initially... Wikipedia →
Recording0:29
United States · 2026
© Conor and Alexandra · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:16
United States · 2022
© ellen hildebrandt · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Abert's Squirrel sighting in Rocky Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 73 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 14th most-seen of the 27 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October and November
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Abert's Squirrel in Rocky Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Abert's Squirrel sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Abert's Squirrel sightings, Rocky Mountain National Park ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Grand Canyon National Park (United States, about 30%).
Same family: Sciuridae
The closest relatives of the Abert's Squirrel that you can see in Rocky Mountain National Park (family Sciuridae, Squirrels) are Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (about 80%), Yellow-bellied Marmot (about 70%) and Wyoming Ground Squirrel (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Abert's Squirrel is recorded against all the mammals logged in Rocky Mountain National Park (73 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.
