The northern hoary bat doesn’t roost in colonies the way many bats do; it hangs alone in tree foliage and migrates long distances between summer and winter range. New Mexico’s 901 records cluster around forested public land, Carson, Gila, and Lincoln National Forests, spanning north-central mountains down to the southern Gila country.
Records jump hard from May through July, when the bulk of the year’s activity was logged, then drop to almost nothing by November, a pattern that likely tracks both migration timing and when bat surveys actually run.
NatureServe ranks the species S4, Apparently Secure, in New Mexico, but its global G3 rank sits well below Secure, reflecting a documented vulnerability to wind-turbine strikes across its range, more than any other North American bat.
Full species profile
