New Mexico mammals

Silver-haired Bat in New Mexico

Lasionycteris noctivagans

Native to New Mexico S4 Apparently Secure in New Mexico

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

Common in New Mexico 60th most recorded of 176 mammals logged in New Mexico

913 occurrence records
83 with iNaturalist photos
May 11, 2026 Last seen in New Mexico

Records from 2000–2026.

913 total records count every New Mexico occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 911 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Silver-haired Bat in New Mexico

Most sightings fall in May to June.

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

Monthly New Mexico records (table)
MonthRecords
January13
February4
March15
April76
May249
June282
July149
August31
September43
October34
November8
December7

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

Seasonality

Year-round in New Mexico, with recorded sightings peaking in May–June.

Occurrence map

Where Silver-haired Bat has been recorded in New Mexico

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 New Mexico records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Bandelier National Monument 26
State Trust Land 3
Chaco Culture National Historical Park 2
Valles Caldera National Preserve 2
Lincoln National Forest 1
Sandia Mountain Wilderness 1
Rio Grande Valley State Park 1
Apache 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 New Mexico

CountyRecords
Bernalillo County 202
Catron County 175
Sandoval County 121
Socorro County 63
Grant County 61
Cibola County 60
Sierra County 34
Rio Arriba County 31
San Miguel County 31
Los Alamos County 28
Lincoln County 22
Taos County 21
14 other counties 64

The complete county distribution, spread across 26 New Mexico counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Silver-haired bats often roost alone under loose bark rather than in visible cave colonies, and New Mexico’s record reflects that solitary habit: just 83 of 913 sightings carry an iNaturalist photo, the rest coming from acoustic surveys and specimen data that don’t require catching the animal on camera.

Bandelier National Monument holds by far the largest cluster, 25 records, well ahead of Gila National Forest’s 8, canyon woodlands that suit a bark-roosting, forest-feeding bat. NatureServe ranks the species S4, Apparently Secure, in New Mexico.

Reports spike sharply in May and June, a pattern that lines up with spring migration through the state as this wide-ranging bat moves between wintering and summering grounds, though the count still reflects when survey effort and detection were highest, not a true population pulse.

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 New Mexico 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"