Pennsylvania mammals

Big Brown Bat in Pennsylvania

Eptesicus fuscus

Native to Pennsylvania S4 Apparently Secure in Pennsylvania

Not listed as nonindigenous in Pennsylvania by USGS NAS; native to its Pennsylvania range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Big Brown Bat in Pennsylvania, by the numbers

Common in Pennsylvania 21st most recorded of 77 mammals logged in Pennsylvania

515 occurrence records
457 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

515 total records count every Pennsylvania occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 513 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Big Brown Bat in Pennsylvania

Most sightings fall in May to August.

513 Pennsylvania occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Pennsylvania records (table)
MonthRecords
January19
February12
March16
April42
May55
June78
July91
August84
September37
October41
November19
December19

Monthly big brown bat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Pennsylvania, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Pennsylvania, with recorded sightings peaking in May–August.

Occurrence map

Where Big Brown Bat has been recorded in Pennsylvania

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Pennsylvania records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
French Creek State Park 5
Gettysburg National Military Park 5
Pymatuning State Park 4
Sinnemahoning State Park 3
Little Buffalo State Park 3
Clear Creek State Park 2
Cook Forest State Park 2
Oil Creek State Park 2

Protected places with the most big brown bat sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Pennsylvania

CountyRecords
Allegheny County 43
Montgomery County 30
Chester County 27
Huntingdon County 23
Crawford County 22
Philadelphia County 22
Centre County 21
Bucks County 21
Berks County 18
Westmoreland County 15
Washington County 15
Delaware County 14
50 other counties 244

The complete county distribution, spread across 62 Pennsylvania counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Big brown bats are documented across Pennsylvania in records centered on open water with nearby roosting cover. Pymatuning’s coves, Presque Isle’s Lake Erie setting, and the wooded Delaware corridor each combine insect-hunting space with trees or buildings that can shelter bats by day.

The record set rises from June through August, when warm nights make both bats and observers more active outdoors. Winter records confirm that the data are not limited to summer, and the seasonal crest describes detection, not the size of Pennsylvania’s apparently secure S4 population.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

More mammals in Pennsylvania in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"