Tennessee mammals

Northern Hoary Bat in Tennessee

Lasiurus cinereus

Native to Tennessee S5 Secure in Tennessee

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

Rare in Tennessee 65th most recorded of 86 mammals logged in Tennessee

23 occurrence records
11 with iNaturalist photos
Sep 13, 2025 Last seen in Tennessee

Records from 2000–2026.

23 total records count every Tennessee occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the monthly chart covers the 22 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Northern Hoary Bat in Tennessee

Most sightings fall in September.

22 Tennessee 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 Tennessee records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April1
May0
June0
July4
August5
September11
October0
November0
December1

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

Seasonality

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

Occurrence map

Where Northern Hoary Bat has been recorded in Tennessee

23 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

23 Tennessee records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Great Smoky Mountains National Park 2
Shiloh National Military 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 Tennessee

CountyRecords
Monroe County 5
Hamilton County 4
Davidson County 3
Anderson County 2
Sevier County 2
Roane County 1
Cumberland County 1
Lawrence County 1
Rutherford County 1
Hardin County 1
Shelby County 1
Blount County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 12 Tennessee counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Tennessee’s northern hoary bat records concentrate in the Nashville Basin, at Cedars of Lebanon State Park, Radnor Lake State Natural Area, and Stones River National Battlefield. That’s classic cedar-glade and hardwood-woodland edge country, the kind of tree cover this bat needs for its solitary roosts.

A loner in the treetops

Unlike Tennessee’s cave-dwelling bats, the northern hoary bat never joins a colony. It roosts alone, tucked into leaves or bark a few yards up a tree, where its frosted gray coat blends into lichen-covered branches. It hunts moths and beetles on the wing, often ranging far from where it sleeps during the day.

A thin, late-summer record

Tennessee has only 23 confirmed records, and most cluster from July through September, when this wide-ranging migrant is most likely to be moving through the state. That pattern says more about when people happen to spot a hard-to-find, solitary bat than about when it’s actually present.

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 Tennessee 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"