Kentucky mammals

Tricolored Bat in Kentucky

Perimyotis subflavus

Native to Kentucky S2 Imperiled in Kentucky

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

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

VU – Vulnerable

High risk of extinction in the wild.

Tricolored Bat hibernating on a limestone mine wallTricolored Bat hanging from a cave ceiling with pale belly fur visibleTricolored Bat roosting in a shallow concrete creviceTricolored Bat tucked against a pale cave wallTricolored Bat roosting under a dark cave overhang
Photo: Krynak Tim, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Public domainTricolored Bat hibernating on a limestone mine wallPhoto: Ann Froschauer/USFWS · CC-BYTricolored Bat hanging from a cave ceiling with pale belly fur visiblePhoto: aispinsects · CC-BYTricolored Bat roosting in a shallow concrete crevicePhoto: cigazze · CC-BYTricolored Bat tucked against a pale cave wallPhoto: Matt D'Agrosa · CC-BYTricolored Bat roosting under a dark cave overhang

Tricolored Bat in Kentucky, by the numbers

Common in Kentucky 12th most recorded of 77 mammals logged in Kentucky

271 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Tricolored Bat in Kentucky

Most sightings fall in March to April.

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

Monthly Kentucky records (table)
MonthRecords
January14
February22
March61
April45
May28
June27
July7
August6
September3
October29
November16
December13

Monthly tricolored bat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Kentucky, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Kentucky, with recorded sightings peaking in March–April.

Occurrence map

Where Tricolored Bat has been recorded in Kentucky

271 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

270 Kentucky records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Mammoth Cave National Park 55
Carter Caves State Resort Park 11
Daniel Boone National Forest 2

Protected places with the most tricolored 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 Kentucky

CountyRecords
Edmonson County 82
Carter County 42
Barren County 30
Hardin County 26
Warren County 15
Hart County 7
Breckinridge County 6
Rockcastle County 6
Madison County 4
Franklin County 4
Jackson County 3
Clark County 3
24 other counties 43

The complete county distribution, spread across 36 Kentucky counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

The tricolored bat has 271 Kentucky records, with the strongest reporting from February through April. Kentucky’s cave-rich Mammoth Cave and Pennyrile region gives winter surveys and karst-focused work an outsized influence on the map, so dots shouldn’t be read as a direct measure of bat numbers.

This native bat is globally listed as Vulnerable in the overlay’s conservation data. Its record pattern drops sharply in late summer and early fall, a Kentucky-specific reminder that survey timing and access to roost or hibernation sites shape what enters the dataset.

Occurrence data from GBIF.

Tricolored Bat hibernating on a limestone mine wall
Full species profile Tricolored Bat Perimyotis subflavus Size 7.7–8.9 cm3–3.5 in Weight 5–8 g0.2–0.3 oz Lifespan Up to 14.8 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Kentucky 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"