Butterfly watching is a hobby concerned with the observation and study of butterflies. It also includes the "catch and release" of butterflies. There are clubs, handbooks, checklists, and festivals devoted to the activity.

The Canada Day and Fourth of July annual butterfly count, a census of species by butterfly watchers throughout North America, is an example of citizen science.

Equipment used

• Low-power binoculars (7x35, for example), especially close-focus binoculars are helpful
• A butterfly field guide. Not all butterflies are readily identifiable from color photographs. The skippers, for example, are best identified from set specimens.
• A camera (optional)

Locations

A person can watch butterflies almost everywhere but some well-known butterfly-watching areas include Costa Rica, the Amazon Basin, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Counting butterflies

Projects in Sweden, the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands, North America, and other countries provide a framework for reporting butterfly sightings in an attempt to understand the factors that threaten or favor European butterflies.