Lasiurus frantzii
Silhouette: CJ Campbell · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The western red bat or desert red bat (Lasiurus frantzii) is a species of microbat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is found in western North America and Central America. Previously, it was believed to be a subspecies of the southern red bat (Lasiurus blossevillii), and was called Lasiurus blossevillii teliotis (abbreviated L. b. teliotis). The western red bat is also very similar to the eastern red bat and is distinguished from each other by minor differences, such as the lack of white-tipped hair in the dorsal pelage in the western red bat and the presence of sparse fur in the lower third of their tail. Their habitats are separated by the Rocky Mountains and may overlap.
The western red bat is found across western North America, ranging from southern Canada, through the western United States, down to Central America. The species has been recorded in Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and the United States. This species, along with most other Lasiurus, is a migratory species. It migrates to the southern parts of the Americas in the winter, and migrates north in the summer. Lasiurus... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western red bat sighting in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 18th most-seen of the 28 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Western red bat in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in March to January, the lowest months. That is one of Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve's driest months, with about 60 mm of rain against 510 mm in October.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Western red bat sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, in our data
Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Western red bat sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Chiroptera
The closest relatives of the Western red bat that you can see in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (order Chiroptera, Bats) are Vampire Bat (about 10%), Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat (about 10%) and wrinkle-faced bat (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Western red bat is recorded against all the mammals logged in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
