Washington mammals

Townsend's Big-eared Bat in Washington

Corynorhinus townsendii

Native to Washington S3 Vulnerable in Washington

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

Townsend's big-eared bat roosting on a cave wallTownsend's big-eared bats tucked into a rock creviceCluster of hibernating Virginia big-eared bats on a cave ceilingVirginia big-eared bat hanging from a stone wallTownsend's big-eared bat roosting in a rocky crevice
Photo: Josh Weaver · CC BY 4.0Townsend's big-eared bat roosting on a cave wallPhoto: Brandon McCracken · CC BY 4.0Townsend's big-eared bats tucked into a rock crevicePhoto: Hajenga Jeff, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Public domainCluster of hibernating Virginia big-eared bats on a cave ceilingPhoto: Stihler Craig, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Public domainVirginia big-eared bat hanging from a stone wallPhoto: Pinnacles National Park · CC BY 4.0Townsend's big-eared bat roosting in a rocky crevice

Townsend's Big-eared Bat in Washington, by the numbers

Occasional in Washington 86th most recorded of 145 mammals logged in Washington

162 occurrence records
48 with iNaturalist photos
Mar 11, 2026 Last seen in Washington

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Townsend's Big-eared Bat in Washington

Most sightings fall in July to September.

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

Monthly Washington records (table)
MonthRecords
January8
February9
March7
April2
May8
June12
July37
August29
September27
October7
November11
December5

Monthly townsend's big-eared bat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Washington, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Washington, with recorded sightings peaking in July–September.

Occurrence map

Where Townsend's Big-eared Bat has been recorded in Washington

162 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

162 Washington records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
San Juan Islands National Monument 10
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park 4
Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve 3
Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WADNR) State Resource Management Area 2
Fort Worden 2
Fort Flagler 1
Olympic National Park 1
Mount Rainier National Park 1

Protected places with the most townsend's big-eared 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 Washington

CountyRecords
Yakima County 47
Snohomish County 22
San Juan County 10
Pacific County 9
Spokane County 9
Okanogan County 8
Mason County 6
Skagit County 6
Jefferson County 5
Clallam County 4
Skamania County 3
Island County 3
16 other counties 30

The complete county distribution, spread across 28 Washington counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

In this state overlay, townsends big eared bat appears in 162 combined occurrence records. The feeds contribute 48 iNaturalist and 149 GBIF records, and their overlap is retained only once in the total. The atlas sorts this file into position 77 among 126 Washington mammals.

The strongest month is July (37 records), whereas the quietest is April (2). At named protected lands, Olympic National Park leads with 1 record. These numbers locate and date records, but do not estimate how many animals Washington holds.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Townsend's big-eared bat roosting on a cave wall
Full species profile Townsend's Big-eared Bat Corynorhinus townsendii Size 5.8 cm2.3 in Weight 9–11 g0.3–0.4 oz Lifespan 16 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Washington 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"