California mammals

Silver-haired Bat in California

Lasionycteris noctivagans

Native to California S3 Vulnerable in California

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

Silver-haired bat tucked into loose barkSilver-haired bat roosting against barkSilver-frosted back of a silver-haired batLive silver-haired bat perched on a rock face
Photo: Mark Richman · CC BY 4.0Silver-haired bat tucked into loose barkPhoto: David LaMagna · CC BY 4.0Silver-haired bat roosting against barkPhoto: David LaMagna · CC BY 4.0Silver-frosted back of a silver-haired batPhoto: Jeff Bartlett · CC BY 4.0Live silver-haired bat perched on a rock face

Silver-haired Bat in California, by the numbers

Occasional in California 148th most recorded of 241 mammals logged in California

253 occurrence records
86 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Silver-haired Bat in California

Most sightings fall in July to August.

253 California occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly California records (table)
MonthRecords
January7
February12
March3
April9
May29
June25
July53
August38
September24
October38
November12
December3

Monthly silver-haired bat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in California, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

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

Occurrence map

Where Silver-haired Bat has been recorded in California

253 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

253 California records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Humboldt Redwoods State Park 7
Death Valley National Park 7
Redwood National Park 3
Shasta National Forest 3
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument 3
Trinity Alps Wilderness 2
Golden Gate National Recreation Area 2
Lake Tahoe 1

Protected places with the most silver-haired 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 California

CountyRecords
Butte County 32
Humboldt County 23
El Dorado County 23
San Diego County 18
Siskiyou County 14
Trinity County 13
Shasta County 11
Nevada County 11
Inyo County 10
Los Angeles County 8
Del Norte County 7
Plumas County 7
25 other counties 76

The complete county distribution, spread across 37 California counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

California’s combined state files contain 319 Silver-haired Bat records: 86 from iNaturalist and 233 from GBIF. It ranks 150th among 243 mammals in this California record comparison, placing it in the middle third. That’s a ranking of submitted records, not a head count of animals.

The monthly series reaches its high point in July, with 19 records in the busiest month. Records appear in 12 of 12 months, so the pattern shows when sightings were documented, not when the species must be present or absent.

California accounts for about 5% of the mapped GBIF records summarized on the national Silver-haired Bat page. That’s a modest share of the known record footprint, though differences in survey effort can strongly shape the percentage.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Silver-haired bat tucked into loose bark
Full species profile Silver-haired Bat Lasionycteris noctivagans Size 9.5–11.5 cm3.7–4.5 in Weight 11 g0.4 oz Lifespan 12 yr View the full profile

More mammals in California 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"