New Mexico mammals

Western Little Brown Myotis in New Mexico

Myotis lucifugus

Native to New Mexico

Not listed as nonindigenous in New Mexico by USGS NAS; treated as native to its mapped New Mexico range.

IUCN Red List status

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

EN – Endangered

Very high risk of extinction in the wild.

Little brown myotis roosting alertly on a wooden beamLittle brown myotis roosting in the corner of an attic beamLittle brown myotis roosting on painted wood sidingLittle brown myotis resting among blue spruce branches
Photo: Steph Brulot-Sawchyn · CC0Little brown myotis roosting alertly on a wooden beamPhoto: LeeAnn Latremouille · CC BY 4.0Little brown myotis roosting in the corner of an attic beamPhoto: Tom Romeo · CC BY 4.0Little brown myotis roosting on painted wood sidingPhoto: Patrick Jackson · CC BY 4.0Little brown myotis resting among blue spruce branches

Western Little Brown Myotis in New Mexico, by the numbers

Rare in New Mexico 135th most recorded of 176 mammals logged in New Mexico

8 occurrence records
3 with iNaturalist photos
May 23, 2026 Last seen in New Mexico

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Western Little Brown Myotis in New Mexico

Most sightings fall in April to May.

8 New Mexico occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence. Based on a small number of dated records; the seasonal pattern may not be representative.

Monthly New Mexico records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April2
May3
June1
July0
August1
September1
October0
November0
December0

Monthly western little brown myotis occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in New Mexico, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Sparse observation record in New Mexico; presence confirmed but timing of activity not well documented.

Occurrence map

Where Western Little Brown Myotis has been recorded in New Mexico

8 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

8 New Mexico records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Rio Grande corridor 1
Rio Grande Valley State Park 1

Protected places with the most western little brown myotis 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
Santa Fe County 2
Sierra County 2
Taos County 2
Sandoval County 1
Bernalillo County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 5 New Mexico counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Western little brown myotis records in New Mexico trace the Rio Grande north from where it enters the state, through Rio Grande del Norte National Monument’s basalt canyons and into Carson National Forest, a mix of river corridor, cliff, and cave habitat that matches how this bat roosts and forages.

The state has just 8 records from 2000 to 2026, 7 represented in GBIF and 3 on iNaturalist, with some overlap between the two. They’re spread from April to September, never more than three in a month, too few to show any seasonal pattern.

No NatureServe state rank is listed for this bat in New Mexico, so its rare label reflects how seldom it turns up in the records, not its conservation status or how many bats live here.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Little brown myotis roosting alertly on a wooden beam
Full species profile Western Little Brown Myotis Myotis lucifugus Size 8–9.5 cm3.1–3.7 in Weight 6–13 g0.2–0.5 oz Lifespan 35 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
  • 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"