New Mexico mammals

Mexican Long-tongued Bat in New Mexico

Choeronycteris mexicana

Native to New Mexico S2 Imperiled in New Mexico

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

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

NT – Near Threatened

Close to qualifying as threatened in the near future.

Mexican long-tongued bat hovering at an agave flower cluster with tongue extended toward the blossomsTwo Mexican long-tongued bats in flight approaching a backyard nectar feeder at nightMexican long-tongued bat with wings fully spread while feeding at a hummingbird feederClose profile of a Mexican long-tongued bat showing its elongated muzzle and small ears
Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Public domainMexican long-tongued bat hovering at an agave flower cluster with tongue extended toward the blossomsPhoto: Dan Vickers · CC BY 4.0Two Mexican long-tongued bats in flight approaching a backyard nectar feeder at nightPhoto: Alan Schmierer · CC0Mexican long-tongued bat with wings fully spread while feeding at a hummingbird feederPhoto: Juan Cruzado Cortés · CC BY 4.0Close profile of a Mexican long-tongued bat showing its elongated muzzle and small ears

Mexican Long-tongued Bat in New Mexico, by the numbers

Rare in New Mexico 122nd most recorded of 176 mammals logged in New Mexico

34 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

34 total records count every New Mexico occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 33; the monthly chart covers the 33 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Mexican Long-tongued Bat in New Mexico

Most sightings fall in July.

33 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)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April0
May0
June6
July16
August9
September2
October0
November0
December0

Monthly mexican long-tongued bat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in New Mexico, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in New Mexico, with recorded sightings peaking in July.

Occurrence map

Where Mexican Long-tongued Bat has been recorded in New Mexico

33 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

33 New Mexico records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Cibola National Forest 1

Protected places with the most mexican long-tongued 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 New Mexico

CountyRecords
Hidalgo County 32
Cibola County 1
Other localities 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 2 New Mexico counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Every one of this bat’s 34 New Mexico records comes from GBIF data, with none from iNaturalist, underscoring how rarely anyone encounters this nectar-feeding bat directly. It’s the only species in its genus.

The monthly pattern stands out: every record falls between June and September, with zero reports the rest of the year. That’s a genuinely different picture from most bats, where a seasonal gap usually just means fewer observers were looking. Here it lines up with the bat’s known biology, a species that follows blooming agaves north from Mexico each summer and doesn’t overwinter in New Mexico.

Bosque del Apache and Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuges, along with the Rio Grande corridor, mark where those summer records cluster. NatureServe ranks the species S2, Imperiled, in New Mexico and G3, Vulnerable, globally, a genuine conservation concern that echoes the IUCN’s Near Threatened listing.

Occurrence data from GBIF.

Mexican long-tongued bat hovering at an agave flower cluster with tongue extended toward the blossoms
Full species profile Mexican Long-tongued Bat Choeronycteris mexicana Size 8 cm3.1 in Weight 10–20 g0.4–0.7 oz 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"