Michigan mammals

Northern Hoary Bat in Michigan

Lasiurus cinereus

Native to Michigan S5 Secure in Michigan

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

Northern Hoary Bat in Michigan, by the numbers

Rare in Michigan 55th most recorded of 75 mammals logged in Michigan

19 occurrence records
19 with iNaturalist photos
Jun 13, 2026 Last seen in Michigan

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Northern Hoary Bat in Michigan

Most sightings fall in July to August.

19 Michigan occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence. Based on a small number of dated records; the seasonal pattern may not be representative.

Monthly Michigan records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April0
May4
June2
July5
August5
September2
October0
November1
December0

Monthly northern hoary bat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Michigan, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Michigan, with recorded sightings peaking in July–August, with a smaller rise in May.

Occurrence map

Where Northern Hoary Bat has been recorded in Michigan

19 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

19 Michigan records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Newberry State Forest Area 4

Protected places with the most northern hoary 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 Michigan

CountyRecords
Chippewa County 6
Barry County 1
Tuscola County 1
Gratiot County 1
Cheboygan County 1
Macomb County 1
Genesee County 1
Van Buren County 1
Other localities 6

The complete county distribution, spread across 8 Michigan counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Northern hoary bat has only 19 recorded sightings in Michigan, all from iNaturalist, clustered loosely around Hiawatha National Forest, Ottawa National Forest, and Seney National Wildlife Refuge in the Upper Peninsula. As Canada’s smaller, boreal-adapted counterpart to the widespread hoary bat, it roosts solitary in conifer foliage, a habit that keeps it out of the colony counts other bats show up in.

With records this sparse, spread thinly across May, June, September, and November, the state doesn’t yet have enough data to describe a real seasonal pattern, which is why this overlay flags timing as unresolved rather than guessing at a peak. NatureServe ranks the species S5, Secure, in Michigan even though its global G3 rank runs lower.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

More mammals in Michigan 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"