Nevada mammals

Mexican Free-tailed Bat in Nevada

Tadarida brasiliensis

Native to Nevada S4 Apparently Secure in Nevada

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

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

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

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 Nevada, by the numbers

Occasional in Nevada 73rd most recorded of 142 mammals logged in Nevada

120 occurrence records

43 with iNaturalist photos

Jun 24, 2026 Last seen in Nevada

Records from 2000–2026.

120 total records count every Nevada occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 119; the monthly chart covers the 119 records with a full observation date.

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

Most sightings fall in June.

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

Monthly Nevada records (table)

Month	Records
January	1
February	2
March	5
April	8
May	19
June	33
July	13
August	26
September	6
October	5
November	1
December	0

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Nevada, with recorded sightings peaking in June, with a smaller rise in August.

Occurrence map

Where Mexican Free-tailed Bat has been recorded in Nevada

119 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

119 Nevada records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Lake Mead National Recreation Area	3
Toiyabe National Forest	2
Valley of Fire State Park	1
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument	1
Basin and Range National Monument	1
La Madre Mountain Wilderness Area	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 Nevada

County	Records
Clark County	39
White Pine County	16
Nye County	16
Churchill County	16
Lyon County	11
Washoe County	9
Esmeralda County	7
Lincoln County	3
Douglas County	1
Other localities	2

The complete county distribution, spread across 9 Nevada counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Nevada records for the mexican free tailed bat are anchored by Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. They show where people have reported it, not how many animals live there.

These sites place the Nevada record pattern firmly in the state’s southern desert country. The protected lands also span springs, canyons, and open basin terrain. The strongest reporting falls in summer, when Nevada’s high country is easiest to reach but low deserts are hottest. That may shape where observers submit records.

The file combines 43 research-grade iNaturalist records and 102 GBIF records. Those 145 records measure documented encounters, not Nevada’s population size. It’s native to Nevada. Nevada doesn’t specifically list it under the state’s conservation framework, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

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 Nevada 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"