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Gallery: Butterflies of Toronto's High Park

Take a look at some of the diverse species of butterflies that can be found in the different habitats of Toronto’s High Park.

High Park is home to a rich diversity of butterfly species, reflecting the park’s unique mix of habitats — from open meadows and oak savannah to woodlands and wetlands. Throughout the warmer months, these vibrant insects can be seen nectaring on wildflowers, basking in sunny clearings, and playing an essential role as pollinators within the park’s ecosystem. The gallery below highlights many of the butterflies recorded in Toronto’s High Park, showcasing both common and notable species that contribute to the park’s ecological richness.

Learn More: Butterflies of Toronto’s High Park

Note: Most photos on this site are generously contributed by local photographers and were taken in High Park. Please respect their work by not copying or reproducing images without permission. If you’re interested in contributing photos, showcasing your artwork, or creating a dedicated photo album on our website, please contact us.

A European Skipper on a leaf. It has a fuzzy, gray body and smaller, orange and brown wings.
European Skipper. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Hobomok Skipper butterfly on a leaf. It has smaller brown wings with a large yellow stripe.
Hobomok Skipper. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Tawny-Edged Skipper on the ground. It has a large, fuzzy body and dark orange and brown wings.
Tawny-edged Skipper. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
An orange-brown fiery skipper butterfly perched on a green leaf, showing fine hairs, folded wings with small dark spots, and a large black eye against a softly blurred natural background in High Park, Toronto.
Fiery Skipper. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Northern CloudyWing butterfly on a leaf. It's smaller with a dark brown, fuzzy body and brown wings spotted with white.
Northern Cloudywing. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Juvenal's Duskywing butterfly on a stick. It has dark brown wings which fade into a light gold pattern with white and brown spots.
Juvenal's Duskywing female. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Clouded Sulphur butterfly feeding at the bright purple flower. It has light, cloudy yellow wings with some white spots.
Clouded Sulphur. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on a leaf. It has bright yellow wings striped by black.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Giant Swallowtail covering a flower. It has large, black wings striped along the top and bottom with yellow.
Giant Swallowtail. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Striped Hairstreak butterfly. It has brown and silver wings with some light striping and red spots at the fringes.
Striped Hairstreak. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
Small gray butterfly with black spots resting on dry brown leaves, showcasing delicate wings and natural woodland habitat in High Park, Toronto.
Northern Azure. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly on the ground. It has wings which start brown and then fade into an intricate pattern of orange and black spots.
Great Spangled Fritillary. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Painted Lady butterfly on a pink flower. It has orange and black wings spotted at the tips with white.
Painted Lady. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
An American Lady butterfly on a leaf. It has orange and black wings with most of the black at the tips of the top with white stripes.
American Lady. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Common Tortoiseshell butterfly on a tree trunk. It has dark orange wings with a pattern of light orange and black stripes building out to the edges.
Compton Tortoiseshell. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Silver Checkerspot butterfly on a leaf. It has orange and black wings with silver spots at the edges.
Silvery Checkerspot. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Little Wood Satyr butterfly on a leaf. It is all a light, tawny brown color, with markings at the edge of its wings that look like eyes.
Little Wood-Satyr. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Crossline Skipper perched on a blade of grass. It has a large, fuzzy body and smaller wings which start orange and fade into dark brown.
Crossline Skipper. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Dun Skipper on a leaf. It has a fuzzy body and smaller wings which are all a dark brown.
Dun Skipper. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Little Glassywing butterfly on a leaf. It has dark brown wings with some light yellow striping near the ends.
Little Glassywing female. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Northen Broken-Dash butterfly on a leaf. It is shaped like a moth with a large, fuzzy body and smaller, brown wings.
Northern Broken-Dash. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Black Swallowtail female butterfly, with black wings fringed by white spots and fading into a light blue at the bottom.
Black Swallowtail female. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly on a flower bush. It has black wings which fade into blue at the bottom.
Pipevine Swallowtail. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
An Orange Sulphur butterfly feeding at a bright purple flower. It has light yellow wings.
Orange Sulphur. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly on the ground. It has dark black wings which fade into light blue at the end and are fringed with light blue spots.
Spicebush Swallowtail. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
An Eastern Tailed-Blue Butterfly on a plant. It has light blue wings bordered with a fringe of black and white.
Eastern Tailed-Blue. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Summer Azure butterfly on a plant. It has silver wings spotted lightly with black.
Summer Azure. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Common Blue butterfly on a bright yellow flower. It has light silver wings with some black-and-white spots and a ring of ruddy spots at the fringe.
Common Blue. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
Blue-gray butterfly with orange and black wing markings perched on a small white wildflower, set against a soft green meadow background.
Dark-eyed Junco. Photo Credit: Iain Fleming
A Mourning Cloak butterfly on a stick. It has dark brown wings which are bordered by a fringe of black and blue spots, followed by a fringe of white.
Mourning Cloak. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
An Eastern Comma butterfly on a leaf. It has wings which are bright orange and spotted black at the tops, and fade into a deep brown at the bottom.
Eastern Comma. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Gray Comma butterfly. It has light orange wings which fade into gray and black along all the edges.
Gray Comma. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Pearl Crescent butterfly on a bush. It was large orange and black wings.
Pearl Crescent. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Common Ringlet butterfly in the grass. It has light gray wings with an inner color of light red.
Common Ringlet. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Common Wood-Nymph butterfly in the grass. It has dark gray wings with striking yellow-and-black eye-like spots at the edges.
Common Wood-Nymph. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Delaware Skipper on a leaf. It has a bright yellow body and wings.
Delaware Skipper. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Peck's Skipper butterfly on a purple flower. It's moth-shaped with a larger, fuzzy buddy and light orange wings with big yellow spots.
Peck's Skipper. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Least Skipper butterfly on a leaf. It has small brown wings with a large orange spot in the middle.
Least Skipper. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Silver -Spotted Skipper butterfly on a blade of grass. It has a large fuzzy body and dark wings with large white and orange stripes.
Silver-spotted Skipper. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Wild Indigo Duskywing butterfly in the grass. It has a dark gray body and wings with light brown at the edges and spotting the tops.
Red-breasted Nuthatch. Photo Credit: Iain Fleming
A White Admiral butterfly on the ground. It has black wings with a large stripe of white going through them and blue spots at the fringes.
White Admiral. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Cabbage White butterfly on a bright yellow flower. Its entire body is an off-white color.
Cabbage White. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Banded Hairstreak butterfly climbing on pink flowers. It has light silver and brown wings with white stripes near the fringes and some light red spotting at the bottom.
Banded Hairstreak. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
An Eastern Tailed-Blue butterfly on a branch. It has silver-blue wings spotted densely at the fringes with black, and a noticeable red stripe on each wing.
Eastern Tailed-Blue. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Silvery Blue butterfly on a white flower. It has light, silvery blue wings with some black spots.
Silvery Blue. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
Monarch butterfly with orange and black patterned wings feeding on a yellow flower against a soft green background in High Park, Toronto.
Monarch. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Red-Spotted Purple butterfly in a bush. It has purple and black wings which are spotted along the border with a ring of red and then white.
Red-spotted Purple. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Red Admiral butterfly on a large leaf. It has dark brown wings with bright red lines and some black and white spots at the tips.
Red Admiral. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Question Mark butterfly on a bush. It has wings which are bright orange with black spots at the top and fade into a deep black at the bottom.
Question Mark. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Northern Crescent butterfly on a leaf. It has orange wings spotted heavily with black.
Northern Crescent. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Common Buckeye butterfly on the ground. It has brown wings with an intricate fringe of orange and white stripes and large, eye-like spots on either side.
Common Buckeye. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich
A Northern Pearly-Eye butterfly on a tree trunk. It has large wings with big, eye-shaped spots.
Northern Pearly-Eye. Photo Credit: Bob Yukich

Most photos on this site are generously contributed by local photographers and were taken in High Park. Please respect their work by not copying or reproducing images without permission. If you’re interested in contributing photos, showcasing your artwork, or creating a dedicated photo album on our website, please contact us.

Pollinators: Nature's Tiny Superheroes

Discover the buzz-worthy universe of bees and all the other amazing pollinators from the comfort of your own home!

Created by naturalist and pollinator expert, Susan Frye, this online naturalist course covers different types of pollinators, their biological needs, and why they’re crucial to our ecosystems. Sign up for this course today to access a comprehensive portal into their fascinating world!

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A monarch butterfly on some purple milkweed flowers in High Park, Toornto

City of Toronto's Biodiversity Booklet

Butterflies of Toronto offers a vivid window into the fascinating world of butterflies, explored through the perspectives of local butterfly watchers, scientists, conservationists, and urban planners. This guide features profiles of some of the city’s most striking species, along with a comprehensive checklist and photographs to help you identify butterflies you may encounter. It also highlights the best places in Toronto to observe them, examines the challenges they face, and provides practical ways you can support and protect these remarkable pollinators in our community.

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Butterfly emerging from chrysalis on a branch, featured on “Butterflies of Toronto: A Guide to Their Remarkable World” cover with City of Toronto Biodiversity Series branding and partner logos

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Fall 50/50 Raffle For Nature Connection in High Park

Fall 50/50 Raffle For Nature Connection

Learning about and forming lasting relationships with with nature has never been more important. That’s why we are raising funds to strengthen our Nature Connection Fund.

Purchase a ticket for our Fall 50/50 Raffle today for a chance to win half the jackpot!

Your support helps ensure kids and adults of all ages can connect with nature in High Park now and forever.

Support our Nature Connection Fund by participating in our Fall 50/50 Raffle. Purchase a ticket today for a chance to win half the jackpot! Your support will ensure kids and adults of all ages can learn about and build a lasting relationship with nature in High Park.

Enter Our 50/50 Raffle

Savannah Soirée Fundraiser

Join us for our annual fundraiser, Savannah Soirée, on Thursday, October 22, at High Park Brewery.

This enchanting evening will feature delicious food and drinks, live music, curated Nature Centre activities and displays, and an exciting fundraiser auction.

Your support helps ensure a sustainable future for High Park for generations to come.

Join us for our annual signature fundraiser, Savannah Soirée, on Thursday, October 22, at High Park Brewery. All funds raised will help support our Nature Connection Fund and helps ensure a sustainable future for High Park for generations to come.

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Enter Our 50/50 Raffle