The species is associated with roosts in cliffs and may be found from sea level up to over 2,000 m asl (Sharma et al. 2021). It may also use human-made structures such as buildings, bridges, aqueducts, etc. By exploiting uplift winds, it flies at elevations of up to 1600 m above ground where it attains fast flight, with maximum ground speeds of 149 km/h (O’Mara et al. 2021). Since it forages (mostly on moths) at such high elevations, the species shows no real habitat selection pattern and forages where prey is most abundant at any time regardless of the habitat type found on the ground (Amorim et al. 2022), for which reason it may also hunt high above the sea (D. Russo pers. obs.). Tadarida teniotis is believed not to migrate, at least over long distances (Hutterer et al. 2005), but declines in the number of roosting bats observed in winter suggest that most bats move elsewhere (Amorim et al. 2020).

Tadarida teniotis is mostly associated with the Mediterranean basin: it occurs in Iberia, Italy and the Balkans, but it is also present in Switzerland, France, the Balkans, eastwards to Turkey and the Russian Federation. It is present on the main Mediterranean islands such as Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, Cyprus, the Canary Islands, and the Balearic Islands, and on many small islands such as e.g., the Eolian Archipelago, in Sicily (reviewed in Amorim et al. 2020). The range of altitudes where this species can be found varies between 0 and 2,000 m asl.

Outside of Europe, this species occurs across North Africa (the Maghreb, Libya, Egypt) to the Middle East (records from Israel and Jordan), and east through Asia Minor to India (Amorim et al. 2020).

Tadarida teniotis is protected by national legislation in most range states and receives international legal protection through the Bonn Convention (Eurobats) and the Bern Convention. It is included in Annex IV of the EU Habitats and Species Directive. According to the 2013-2018 Article 17 reporting made according to such Directive, the species has a favourable conservation status in all biogeographic regions of the EU.

Roost surveys and monitoring are needed to protect this species.