Nebraska mammals

Northern Hoary Bat in Nebraska

Lasiurus cinereus

Native to Nebraska S3 Vulnerable in Nebraska

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

Hoary bat in flight against blue sky, wings spread to show its yellow throat patch and heavily frosted furHoary bat roosting in a tree bark hollow, frosted fur blending with the surrounding lichenHoary bat hanging from an exposed branch in daylight, showing its full frosted coatHoary bat roosting among grapevine foliage, a typical solitary tree roost
Photo: Gjon Hazard · CC BY 4.0Hoary bat in flight against blue sky, wings spread to show its yellow throat patch and heavily frosted furPhoto: Nelson Balcar · CC BY 4.0Hoary bat roosting in a tree bark hollow, frosted fur blending with the surrounding lichenPhoto: Konshau Duman · CC BY 4.0Hoary bat hanging from an exposed branch in daylight, showing its full frosted coatPhoto: Kalvin Chan · CC BY 4.0Hoary bat roosting among grapevine foliage, a typical solitary tree roost

Northern Hoary Bat in Nebraska, by the numbers

Occasional in Nebraska 51st most recorded of 95 mammals logged in Nebraska

25 occurrence records
13 with iNaturalist photos
Jul 6, 2026 Last seen in Nebraska

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Northern Hoary Bat in Nebraska

Most sightings fall in June to July.

25 Nebraska 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 Nebraska records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April0
May1
June7
July11
August4
September2
October0
November0
December0

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Nebraska, with recorded sightings peaking in June–July.

Occurrence map

Where Northern Hoary Bat has been recorded in Nebraska

25 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

25 Nebraska records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Gilbert-baker Wildlife Management Area 1
Buffalo Bill's Ranch State Historical Park 1

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 Nebraska

CountyRecords
Banner County 4
Sioux County 3
Sheridan County 2
Lancaster County 2
Dawes County 2
Kimball County 2
Dixon County 2
Knox County 2
Gage County 1
Nemaha County 1
Lincoln County 1
Scotts Bluff County 1
2 other counties 2

The complete county distribution, spread across 14 Nebraska counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Northern hoary bats carry a NatureServe S3 vulnerable rank in Nebraska that matches the species’ G3 global rank, reflecting continent-wide pressure from wind-turbine collision mortality during migration. The record leans toward GBIF (23 records) over iNaturalist (13), documenting this solitary, foliage-roosting bat mostly through specimen and acoustic survey work.

Records cluster entirely in summer, May through September account for all 25 of the state’s sightings, with July carrying nearly half (11), fitting the window when this species is present for the breeding season before it heads south for winter.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist.

Hoary bat in flight against blue sky, wings spread to show its yellow throat patch and heavily frosted fur
Full species profile Northern Hoary Bat Lasiurus cinereus Size 13–15 cm5.1–5.9 in Weight 26 g0.9 oz Lifespan Up to 14 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Nebraska 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"