Indiana Bat
(Myotis sodalis)
[Endangered]
Overview
Habitat: The Indiana bat typically hibernates in caves/mines in the winter and roosts under bark or in tree crevices in the spring, summer and fall. Suitable potential summer roosting habitat is characterized by trees (dead, dying, or alive) or snags with exfoliating or defoliating bark, or containing cracks or crevices that could potentially be used by Indiana bats as a roost. Streams, associated with floodplain forests, and impounded water bodies (ponds, wetlands, reservoirs, etc.) where abundant supplies of flying insects are likely found provide preferred foraging habitat for Indiana bats, some of which may fly up to 2-5 miles from upland roosts on a regular basis. Indiana bats also forage within the canopy of upland forests, over clearings with early successional vegetation (e.g., old fields), along the borders of croplands, along wooded fencerows, and over farm ponds in pastures (Service 2007). While Indiana bats appear to forage in a wide variety of habitats, they seem to tend to stay fairly close to tree cover. |
Wintering indiana bats in hibernaculum.
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Main Threats: The most significant rangewide threats to the Indiana bat have traditionally been habitat loss/degradation, forest fragmentation, winter disturbance, and environmental contaminants. In addition to these threats, collisions with man-made objects climate change and white-nose syndrome (WNS) are increasingly being identified as significant threats to the future recovery of the Indiana bat.
Species Range: States/US Territories in which the Indiana bat is known to occur: Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia
Distribution in New York
See Federally Listed Species Occurrences by County [PDF] for information on resident populations of Indiana bats. Please note that migrating Indiana bats may occur throughout New York State. |
Indiana bat with transmitter attached
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