Bombus sylvicola
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Bombus sylvicola is a species of bumblebee native to North America. It occurs throughout most of Canada, its distribution extending into Alaska and the western contiguous United States. In the southernmost extent of its range in California it occurs only at elevation. It is known commonly as the forest bumblebee.
This is a common species. It is a bee of alpine and subarctic climates. It lives in open, grassy habitat such as mountain meadows. It nests underground, or sometimes on the surface. Its food plants include sandworts, rabbitbrush, fireweeds, lupines, coyote mints, butterburs, mountain heathers, and groundsels.
This was one of two bees featured in a study showing how climate change may be affecting their morphology. This species is polymorphic, with longer-tongued and shorter-tongued individuals. As the current climate change progresses, longer-tongued individuals are becoming less common in the population because flowers with long corollas are becoming less abundant. Shorter-tongued bees are having more success as generalist foragers among the available flora.
This species is very similar to the black-tailed bumblebee (B. melanopygus), the two sometimes having nearly identical color patterns. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wrangell-St. Elias National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Denali National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Forest Bumble Bee sighting in Rocky Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 72nd most-seen of the 191 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Forest Bumble Bee in Rocky Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to May, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Forest Bumble Bee sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Forest Bumble Bee sightings, Rocky Mountain National Park ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (United States, about 50%), Denali National Park (United States, about 20%) and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Bombus
The closest relatives of the Forest Bumble Bee that you can see in Rocky Mountain National Park (genus Bombus, Bumble Bees) are Hunt's Bumble Bee (about 10%), Nevada Bumble Bee (about 10%) and Colorado Black-Notched Bumble Bee (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Forest Bumble Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Rocky Mountain National Park (17 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.
