California mammals

Western Yellow Bat in California

Lasiurus xanthinus

Native to California S3 Vulnerable in California

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

Western yellow bat roosting against tree bark with wings foldedWestern yellow bat face and golden shoulder fur in close viewWestern yellow bat profile with pale-gold fur and short rounded muzzleLive western yellow bat hanging head-down from tree bark at night
Photo: Juan Cruzado Cortés · CC BY-SA 4.0Western yellow bat roosting against tree bark with wings foldedPhoto: Juan Cruzado Cortés · CC BY-SA 4.0Western yellow bat face and golden shoulder fur in close viewPhoto: Juan Cruzado Cortés · CC BY-SA 4.0Western yellow bat profile with pale-gold fur and short rounded muzzlePhoto: Juan Cruzado Cortés · CC BY-SA 4.0Live western yellow bat hanging head-down from tree bark at night

Western Yellow Bat in California, by the numbers

Occasional in California 158th most recorded of 241 mammals logged in California

193 occurrence records
14 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Western Yellow Bat in California

Most sightings fall in July to October.

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

Monthly California records (table)
MonthRecords
January9
February5
March6
April13
May12
June22
July26
August38
September29
October23
November7
December3

Monthly western yellow bat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in California, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in California, with recorded sightings peaking in July–October.

Occurrence map

Where Western Yellow Bat has been recorded in California

193 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

193 California records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
San Bernardino National Forest 4
Joshua Tree National Park 1

Protected places with the most western yellow 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 California

CountyRecords
Riverside County 82
San Bernardino County 42
San Diego County 36
Imperial County 29
Los Angeles County 4

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

California’s combined state files contain 14 Western Yellow Bat records: 14 from iNaturalist and 0 from GBIF. It ranks 160th among 243 mammals in this California record comparison, placing it in the middle third. That’s a ranking of submitted records, not a head count of animals.

The monthly series reaches its high point in July, with 14 records in the busiest month. Records appear in 11 of 12 months, so the pattern shows when sightings were documented, not when the species must be present or absent.

California accounts for about 48% of the mapped GBIF records summarized on the national Western Yellow Bat page. That’s a substantial share of the known record footprint, though differences in survey effort can strongly shape the percentage.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Western yellow bat roosting against tree bark with wings folded
Full species profile Western Yellow Bat Lasiurus xanthinus Size 7.5 cm3 in Weight 16 g0.6 oz Lifespan 14 yr View the full profile

More mammals in California 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"