Louisiana mammals

Mexican Free-tailed Bat in Louisiana

Tadarida brasiliensis

Native to Louisiana S4 Apparently Secure in Louisiana

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

Tadarida brasiliensis - Bahamas - Long Island (sic) - Cartwright Cave - March 2006 - 2A dense column of Mexican free-tailed bats streaming from beneath a highway bridge at duskMexican free-tailed bats pouring into the evening sky as onlookers watch below
Photo: Matti Mero · Public domainTadarida brasiliensis - Bahamas - Long Island (sic) - Cartwright Cave - March 2006 - 2Photo: James Todd McCann · CC BY 4.0A dense column of Mexican free-tailed bats streaming from beneath a highway bridge at duskPhoto: Theo Summer · CC0Mexican free-tailed bats pouring into the evening sky as onlookers watch below

Mexican Free-tailed Bat in Louisiana, by the numbers

Occasional in Louisiana 32nd most recorded of 72 mammals logged in Louisiana

448 occurrence records
41 with iNaturalist photos
Jun 17, 2026 Last seen in Louisiana

Records from 2000–2026.

448 total records count every Louisiana occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 445 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Mexican Free-tailed Bat in Louisiana

Most sightings fall in October.

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

Monthly Louisiana records (table)
MonthRecords
January56
February8
March34
April29
May25
June10
July20
August9
September26
October104
November47
December77

Monthly mexican free-tailed bat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Louisiana, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Louisiana, with recorded sightings peaking in October, with a smaller rise in December.

Occurrence map

Where Mexican Free-tailed Bat has been recorded in Louisiana

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Louisiana records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Sam Houston Jones State Park District II 3
Kisatchie National Forest 1

Protected places with the most mexican free-tailed 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 Louisiana

CountyRecords
East Baton Rouge County 185
Ouachita County 75
East Feliciana County 61
Orleans County 31
De Soto County 22
Jefferson County 15
St. Tammany County 11
Tangipahoa County 7
Natchitoches County 6
Rapides County 5
Calcasieu County 4
Beauregard County 4
12 other counties 22

The complete county distribution, spread across 24 Louisiana counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Mexican free-tailed bats carry a NatureServe S4 apparently secure rank in Louisiana, and the record leans almost entirely on GBIF (431 of 448 records), suggesting large-scale colony surveys, not casual sightings, document most of what’s known about this fast-flying, highly colonial bat in the state.

October alone accounts for 104 of the 448 records, well over a fifth of the year’s total, with additional winter spikes in January (56) and December (77), a pattern that fits huge fall staging and winter roosting aggregations at bridge and cave colonies rather than any single narrow breeding window.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Tadarida brasiliensis - Bahamas - Long Island (sic) - Cartwright Cave - March 2006 - 2
Full species profile Mexican Free-tailed Bat Tadarida brasiliensis Size 3.1–4.1 cm1.2–1.6 in Weight 7–12 g0.2–0.4 oz Lifespan 8 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Louisiana 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"