New Mexico mammals

Cliff Chipmunk in New Mexico

Neotamias dorsalis

Native to New Mexico S4 Apparently Secure in New Mexico

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

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: Laura Gaudette · CC-BYCliff Chipmunk (Neotamias dorsalis)Photo: William Harmon · CC-BYCliff Chipmunk (Neotamias dorsalis)Photo: Roland Godon · CC-BYCliff Chipmunk (Neotamias dorsalis)Photo: Wendy McCrady · CC-BYCliff Chipmunk (Neotamias dorsalis)Photo: Spencer Hurt · CC-BYCliff Chipmunk (Neotamias dorsalis)

Cliff Chipmunk in New Mexico, by the numbers

Occasional in New Mexico 80th most recorded of 176 mammals logged in New Mexico

171 occurrence records

144 with iNaturalist photos

Jul 5, 2026 Last seen in New Mexico

Records from 2000–2026.

171 total records count every New Mexico occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the monthly chart covers the 170 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Cliff Chipmunk in New Mexico

Most sightings fall in April to June.

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

Monthly New Mexico records (table)

Month	Records
January	4
February	5
March	11
April	31
May	30
June	20
July	15
August	12
September	13
October	15
November	5
December	9

Monthly cliff chipmunk occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in New Mexico, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in New Mexico, with recorded sightings peaking in April–June.

Occurrence map

Where Cliff Chipmunk has been recorded in New Mexico

171 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

171 New Mexico records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
El Malpais National Monument	8
El Morro National Monument	3
Bear Canyon Lake (and Dam)	3
Gila Wilderness	2
Heart Bar Wildlife Management Area	2
Cebolla Wilderness Area	1
Apache Kid Wilderness	1
Cibola National Forest	1

Protected places with the most cliff chipmunk 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 New Mexico

County	Records
Grant County	37
Socorro County	37
Cibola County	31
Catron County	27
McKinley County	22
Hidalgo County	13
Sierra County	3
Bernalillo County	1

The complete county distribution, spread across 8 New Mexico counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Cliff chipmunk records in New Mexico trace a band of rocky, pinyon-juniper country: Gila National Forest’s canyon walls, the sandstone bluffs at El Morro National Monument, and the volcanic terrain at El Malpais National Monument all rank among the state’s top sites. That fits a chipmunk that forages by day on pinyon nuts, juniper berries, seeds, and insects rather than digging burrows.

Records rise through April and May, the strongest two months in the state’s 171-record total, though a sample this small can shift with just a handful of extra spring hikers submitting sightings.

NatureServe rates the species S4, Apparently Secure, in New Mexico, consistent with sightings spread across several separate forest and monument units rather than concentrated in one place.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Full species profile Cliff Chipmunk Neotamias dorsalis Size 21–25 cm8.3–9.8 in Weight 55–75 g1.9–2.6 oz Lifespan 5 yr View the full profile

More mammals in New Mexico 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"