The species tends to choose habitats that are sparsely to moderately populated by humans and are rare in heavily urbanized areas. Mating takes place in flight and copulation usually occurs in August or September. The sperm is stored until the spring, usually March or April. Female red bats possess four mammary glands while most other chiropterans have two. Female Red Bats give birth to one litter of twins each year, unlike most bats which give birth to single young. Newborn bats are hairless and weigh approximately 1.5 g. The young learn to fly at about five weeks old. Like all mammals, female red bats nurse their young until the young are able to fend for themselves. It takes young red bats about five weeks to learn how to fly and forage on their own (Myers and Hatchett 2000).
Lasiurus borealis choose roosting sites in dense foliage. They may be visible hanging from branches or leaves but their colouration helps to camouflage them from predators. Their red coat is particularly helpful at camouflaging them in sycamore, oaks, elm, and box elder trees and they seem to prefer these trees as roost sites (Constantine 1996). Sites that have been used as roosting areas range from 2 to 40 feet off the ground. The roosting sites of solitary bats have not been as well studied as those of more gregarious bats. Some field workers believe that red bats defend feeding territories (Constantine 1966, Fenton 1985). Red bats are insectivorous. They capture insects while flying like many other insectivorous bats (Myers and Hatchett 2000).

The species occurs in eastern North America, Bermuda (Simmons 2005) and northeastern Mexico (Arroyo-Cabrales pers. comm).

This species occurs within protected areas in Mexico.