Allen’s big-eared bat is a rock-crevice specialist of the rugged Southwest, and its New Mexico records match that pattern: Gila National Forest, the Mogollon Mountains, and the Blue Range Wilderness are all steep, canyon-cut country with the cliffs and rock faces this bat roosts in.
The state’s 73 records lean almost entirely on GBIF data (71 of 73), with only 4 through iNaturalist, a sign of how hard this bat is to document by camera or casual sighting. Records cluster hard in June and July, with 21 and 39 reports respectively, more likely reflecting summer bat-survey effort in the Gila than a true seasonal spike in the animal’s own activity.
NatureServe ranks the species S3, Vulnerable, in New Mexico, a real conservation flag distinct from its more secure global status. That state-level concern is worth taking seriously given how rarely observers document this solitary, nocturnal bat at all.
Full species profile
