Utah mammals

Mexican Free-tailed Bat in Utah

Tadarida brasiliensis

Native to Utah S4B Apparently Secure in Utah

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

Occasional in Utah 91st most recorded of 141 mammals logged in Utah

587 occurrence records
54 with iNaturalist photos
Mar 10, 2026 Last seen in Utah

Records from 2000–2026.

587 total records count every Utah occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 586 records with a full observation date.

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

Most sightings fall in September.

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

Monthly Utah records (table)
MonthRecords
January12
February2
March4
April13
May108
June26
July77
August43
September245
October15
November39
December2

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Utah, with recorded sightings peaking in September.

Occurrence map

Where Mexican Free-tailed Bat has been recorded in Utah

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Utah records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Bears Ears National Monument 11
Capitol Reef National Park 3
Arches National Park 2
Dinosaur National Monument 2
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 2
Dixie National Forest 1
Red Cliffs National Monument 1
The State of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration 2123 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 Utah

CountyRecords
Utah County 267
Millard County 132
Weber County 58
Washington County 45
Salt Lake County 25
San Juan County 12
Sevier County 8
Tooele County 6
Uintah County 5
Piute County 5
Garfield County 4
Davis County 3
9 other counties 17

The complete county distribution, spread across 21 Utah counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Mexican free-tailed bat records in Utah cluster around Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Arches National Park, and Dinosaur National Monument, places offering the cliffs, bridges, and canyon walls this fast-flying bat needs for colony roosts within reach of open hunting country.

The state’s 587 recorded sightings spike hard in September, with 245 records that month alone, more than double the next-highest month of May at 108. That September surge likely marks the species’ seasonal migration south for winter, when large numbers become briefly easier for observers to notice near known roosts.

NatureServe ranks the Mexican free-tailed bat S4B in Utah, Apparently Secure as a breeding population, one of the stronger conservation standings among the state’s bat species.

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 Utah 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"