Deer in Spring Landscape

Field Guide to Maryland Bats

Maryland has ten species of bats that lead varied lives. Some reside in Maryland all year long, and some migrate through Maryland in the spring and fall. Some species of bats live in groups called colonies and others live by themselves or in small families.

Bats belong to the order Chiroptera, which means “hand-wing.”  Their hand is literally their wing and they are the only mammals that can fly.

Bats are more closely related to people than to mice and like humans, have hair, and feed their young milk.

Click on a picture or species name for profiles of each species or use the Maryland Bat Identification Dichotomous Key found below to identify Maryland bats.

small photo of little Brown Bat Little Brown Bat
(Myotis lucifugus)
small photo of Northern Long-eared Bat Northern Long-eared Bat
(Myotis septentrionalis)
small photo of Indiana Bat Indiana Bat
(Myotis sodalis)
small phorto of Eastern Small Foot Bat Eastern Small-footed Bat
(Myotis leibii)
small photo of Silver-haired Bat Silver-haired Bat
(Lasionycteris noctivagans)
small photo of Eastern Pipistrelle Bat Eastern Pipistrelle Bat
(Pipistrellus subflavus)
small photo of Big Brown Bat Big Brown Bat
(Eptesicus fuscus)
small photo of Red Bat Red Bat
(Lasiurus borealis)
small photo of Hoary Bat Hoary Bat
(Lasiurus cinereus)
small photo of Evening Bat Evening Bat
(Nycticeius humeralis)

See the online
Guide to Bat Anatomy

How do scientists tell one type of bat species from another?

Biologists use a dichotomous key to identify both plants and animals. Such keys include minute details about shapes and sizes of the parts of organisms that are being keyed out. Most bats that are found in the Maryland are not difficult to sort and identify into basic types.

Maryland Bat Identification Dichotomous Key