This species occurs in deciduous forest, dry thorn scrub, and evergreen forest (Reid 2009). It roosts near the entrances of caves and mines or in tree hollows and buildings. Groups may use a separate night roost, such as under a bridge. Group size is usually greater than 50, with a sex ratio of about 75% males to 25% females. Activity begins immediately before sunset, individuals fly above the canopy and forage with long, straight sallies and rapid dives after flying insects. This early flight above the relatively low, open canopy of deciduous forest can be easily observed. Young are born in late June in Costa Rica, well into the rainy season (Bradbury and Vehrencamp 1976, Reid 2009).

This species occurs on the Pacific slope in Costa Rica to central Sonora and southern Baja California, Mexico (Reid 2009), it occurs from lowlands to 1,500 m asl. Simmons (2005) also included northern Colombia as part of the distribution, but no valid record exists yet (Hood and Gardner 2008, Solari et al. 2013).

This species can be found in protected areas.