Oklahoma mammals

Mexican Free-tailed Bat in Oklahoma

Tadarida brasiliensis

Native to Oklahoma S3 Vulnerable in Oklahoma

Not listed as nonindigenous in Oklahoma by USGS NAS; native to its Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma, by the numbers

Occasional in Oklahoma 49th most recorded of 120 mammals logged in Oklahoma

959 occurrence records
30 with iNaturalist photos
Jun 30, 2026 Last seen in Oklahoma

Records from 2000–2026.

959 total records count every Oklahoma occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 953 records with a full observation date.

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

Most sightings fall in August to September.

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

Monthly Oklahoma records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February5
March8
April88
May37
June75
July45
August287
September350
October48
November4
December6

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Oklahoma, with recorded sightings peaking in August–September.

Occurrence map

Where Mexican Free-tailed Bat has been recorded in Oklahoma

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Oklahoma records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Selman Cave System 4
CLO Lands 3

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 Oklahoma

CountyRecords
Woods County 278
Major County 215
Greer County 185
Woodward County 130
Adair County 55
Harmon County 21
Le Flore County 12
Cleveland County 10
Kiowa County 9
Osage County 6
Payne County 5
Stephens County 5
11 other counties 28

The complete county distribution, spread across 23 Oklahoma 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 show one of the most lopsided source ratios in this Oklahoma dataset: 953 GBIF records against just 30 from iNaturalist, more than 30 to 1, meaning large-scale colony surveys, not casual sightings, document nearly everything known about this fast-flying, highly colonial bat here. NatureServe rates the state population S3, vulnerable.

August alone accounts for 46 of the year’s monthly-tallied records, close to half the total, tracking the peak of massive summer emergence flights from bridge and cave colonies before fall migration begins; the record goes silent in January and December as the bats winter elsewhere.

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 Oklahoma 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"