Tricolored bats are Vermont’s thinnest bat record here, just 11 sightings total, and every one comes from GBIF rather than a photograph. A species this critically imperiled (NatureServe S1) is documented almost entirely through hibernaculum surveys and specimen data rather than casual observation. Globally the IUCN lists the species Vulnerable, and white-nose syndrome has hit tricolored bats especially hard across the Northeast, making Vermont’s thin record consistent with a genuine population collapse rather than just an observation gap.
Seven of the 11 records land in October and November, tracking the fall swarm at cave entrances before hibernation, the same narrow window when survivors of this hard-hit species are most detectable.
Full species profile
