Species: Myotis californicus
Californian Myotis
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Articles:
This article originally appeared in the State of Washington Bat Conservation Plan. Further information is available from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recently released a Bat Conservation Plan for the 15 species of bats found in Washington State. All but four of these species occur within the greater Puget Sound watershed1, including:
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Chiroptera
Family
Vespertilionidae
Genus
Myotis
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
California Bat - California Myotis - Californian Bat - Un Murciélago - chauve-souris de Californie
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Bats
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Chiroptera - Vespertilionidae - Myotis - See Bogan (1975) for information on geographic variation and subspecies in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. Simmons (in Wilslon and Reeder 2005) stated that subspecies are poorly delimited.
Ecology and Life History
Migration
false - false - false
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Insectivorous. Forages with a slow erratic flight pattern within approximately 5-10 feet of the ground. Forages along margins of tree clumps, around edge of tree canopy, over water, and well above ground in open country (see Simpson 1993).
Reproduction Comments
Breeds in late fall in most of range, or early spring in California. Females give birth to single young, late May to mid-June (Barbour and Davis 1969), in July in Canada (Banfield 1974; van Zyll de Jong 1985). In southwestern California, no pregnant females were found after mid-June. One young per year. Potential reproductive lifespan of 15 years. Colonies usually are small, up to about 25 individuals.
Ecology Comments
In summer, roosts alone or in small groups (Simpson 1993).
Length
9
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-05
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-05
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=S4&US.AK=S2&US.AZ=S4&US.CA=SNR&US.CO=S3&US.ID=S2&US.MT=S4&US.NN=S5&US.NV=S4&US.NM=S5&US.OR=S3&US.TX=S4&US.UT=S3&US.WA=S3" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
Range includes western North America, from extreme southern Alaska south through British Columbia and the western United States to southern Baja California and Guatemala (Koopman, in Wilson and Reeder 1993). In the United States, this species occurs throughout the desert Southwest, and in lowlands to Montana, Utah, and Colorado. Winter range includes California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Texas; full extent of winter range is not known (Barbour and Davis 1969). Elevational range extends up to 6,000 feet (1,830 meters).