Nymphalis californica
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
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 Yellowstone National Park on a given day, based on 43 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 25th most-seen of the 160 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a California Tortoiseshell in Yellowstone National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to April, 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.
6th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate California Tortoiseshell sightings, Yellowstone National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Glacier National Park (United States, about 30%), Yosemite National Park (United States, about 30%) and Grand Teton National Park (United States, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the California Tortoiseshell is recorded against all the insects logged in Yellowstone National Park (43 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.
