Yuma myotis bats forage low over open water, skimming for insects just above the surface, which makes lakes and slow river stretches some of the best places to find them. Flathead Lake, the wetlands of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, and the Missouri River corridor all fit that pattern closely.
All 101 of Montana’s records for this species come from GBIF data, with none from iNaturalist, which tracks with how hard bats are to identify and photograph in the field; most of these counts likely trace back to mist-net surveys rather than casual sightings. Records peak sharply in May at 21, with a smaller rise in April and again in August, a pattern that probably lines up with spring roost surveys more than any real change in bat activity. NatureServe ranks the species S3, vulnerable, in Montana, so this thin record base likely reflects both a genuinely uncommon species and the difficulty of surveying it.
Full species profile
