Bat Removal in New York City
Bats are valuable insect eaters, but a colony roosting in your attic, soffits, wall voids or chimney is a different story. Their droppings, called guano, build up over time, stain ceilings and create strong odors, and a single bat flying through a bedroom raises real health questions about rabies exposure. Bats can slip through gaps as small as a thumb width, so most homeowners have no idea how they got in. Because bats are protected wildlife in New York, how and when they are removed matters just as much as getting them out.
NYC Pest Control Pros is a free referral service that connects you with independent, licensed wildlife control providers in your borough. Bat work is different from typical pest control: bats are not poisoned or trapped, and removal has to follow state wildlife rules and careful timing. The professionals in our network inspect for entry points, install one-way exclusion devices when the season allows, seal the building and advise on guano cleanup. Our referral is free for homeowners, landlords and building managers, and there is never any obligation to hire the provider you speak with.
Why Bats Are a Problem in NYC
Several bat species live in and migrate through New York City, feeding over parks, cemeteries, wetlands and waterways such as Jamaica Bay, the Bronx River and the Staten Island shoreline. Big brown bats in particular adapt well to buildings, roosting in attics, behind shutters, in gaps under roof flashing and inside wall voids of older frame houses and row houses. Bats return to the same roost year after year, so a colony that has used a house for several summers will keep trying to come back unless every entry point is properly sealed.
Bat complaints are most common in detached and semi-attached homes in Staten Island, the Bronx, eastern Queens and parts of Brooklyn, where wood siding, gable vents, chimneys and aging roof lines leave small openings. Bats also occasionally turn up inside apartment buildings, usually after entering through an open window, an unscreened air conditioner gap or a construction opening during warm summer nights. Late summer is when these accidental indoor visits peak, as young bats that have just learned to fly explore new spaces and misjudge openings.
Common Bats Found in New York
Big Brown Bat
The bat most often found in NYC buildings. It is fairly large for a local bat, with glossy brown fur, and forms colonies in attics, walls and eaves. It is also the species most likely to overwinter inside a heated building.
Little Brown Bat
A small bat once common in buildings across New York. Its numbers dropped sharply after white-nose syndrome spread through the Northeast, and it is now a species of conservation concern, which makes careful, humane exclusion especially important.
Eastern Red Bat
A reddish, tree-roosting bat that migrates through the city in spring and fall. It rarely colonizes buildings, but individuals are sometimes found clinging to walls, fences or trees in parks, yards and even Manhattan streets during migration.
Signs You Need Bat Removal
- Small, dark droppings that crumble into shiny insect fragments, piled below roof gaps, on attic insulation or along exterior walls.
- Scratching, squeaking or fluttering sounds in walls, attics or chimneys around dusk and before dawn.
- Bats seen exiting from roof lines, gable vents, soffits, shutters or chimney tops shortly after sunset.
- Brownish, greasy rub marks around small gaps in siding, flashing, trim or vents where bats repeatedly squeeze through.
- A strong, musty ammonia odor in the attic or top-floor rooms caused by accumulating guano and urine.
- A bat flying inside the living space, often in late summer when young bats are learning to fly and get disoriented.
- Stains on ceilings or walls beneath roosting areas where guano and urine have soaked through.
Health & Property Risks
Bats are one of the main rabies carriers in New York. Only a small share of bats carry the virus, but bat bites can be tiny and go unnoticed. NYC Health Department guidance is that if a bat is found in a room with a sleeping person, a young child or someone who cannot reliably report contact, the bat should be safely confined rather than released so it can be tested, and a healthcare provider or the Health Department should be contacted promptly. Accumulated guano can also support fungal growth and damage insulation, drywall and ceilings.