Montana mammals

Silver-haired Bat in Montana

Lasionycteris noctivagans

Native to Montana S3 Vulnerable in Montana

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

Rare in Montana 86th most recorded of 122 mammals logged in Montana

107 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

107 total records count every Montana occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the monthly chart covers the 100 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Silver-haired Bat in Montana

Most sightings fall in July.

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

Monthly Montana records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April0
May2
June6
July61
August15
September14
October2
November0
December0

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Montana, with recorded sightings peaking in July.

Occurrence map

Where Silver-haired Bat has been recorded in Montana

107 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

107 Montana records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Glacier National Park 3
Gallatin National Forest 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 Montana

CountyRecords
Carter County 41
Ravalli County 13
Missoula County 11
Lake County 10
Fergus County 8
Flathead County 6
Gallatin County 4
Carbon County 3
Lincoln County 2
Liberty County 1
Cascade County 1
Yellowstone County 1
6 other counties 6

The complete county distribution, spread across 18 Montana 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 Montana reach from Red Rock Lakes to Flathead Lake and the Missouri River corridor, forest and water-edge habitat that fits a bat known for roosting under loose bark and in old woodpecker holes rather than caves.

Reports spike hard in July, when this species’ migratory movement and summer roost activity overlap, then fall off through late summer and fall. NatureServe ranks the species S3, Vulnerable, in Montana.

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 Montana 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"