Minnesota mammals

Silver-haired Bat in Minnesota

Lasionycteris noctivagans

Native to Minnesota SNR Unranked in Minnesota

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

Occasional in Minnesota 50th most recorded of 88 mammals logged in Minnesota

91 occurrence records
60 with iNaturalist photos
Dec 1, 2025 Last seen in Minnesota

Records from 2000–2026.

91 total records count every Minnesota occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the monthly chart covers the 90 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Silver-haired Bat in Minnesota

Most sightings fall in July to August.

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

Monthly Minnesota records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February1
March0
April5
May11
June9
July24
August15
September12
October9
November3
December1

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Minnesota, with recorded sightings peaking in July–August.

Occurrence map

Where Silver-haired Bat has been recorded in Minnesota

91 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

91 Minnesota records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Mississippi National River and Recreation Area 4
Miscellaneous 3
Lower Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway 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 Minnesota

CountyRecords
Hennepin County 15
St. Louis County 14
Ramsey County 11
Sherburne County 10
Clay County 4
Washington County 3
Cook County 3
Fillmore County 3
Blue Earth County 3
Hubbard County 2
Lac qui Parle County 2
Dakota County 2
15 other counties 19

The complete county distribution, spread across 27 Minnesota counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Silver-haired bat records in Minnesota cluster in the Arrowhead, at Superior National Forest, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and Voyageurs National Park, forest country that fits a bat known for roosting under loose bark and in old woodpecker holes rather than caves. With 73 GBIF records against 60 from iNaturalist, more than half the documentation likely comes from specimen or acoustic survey data.

Reports run heaviest from July through September, tracking late-summer migration as this species moves between its wintering and breeding range across a wide swath of the continent. NatureServe has not yet assigned the species a Minnesota rank despite its solid G4 global status.

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 Minnesota 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"