Bats

Big brown bat

Hoary bat

Little brown myotis

Long-legged myotis

Palid bat

Silver haired bat

Western pipistrelle

Western small-footed myotis

Yuma myotis

 

 

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image big brown bat

Common name: Big Brown Bat

Species: Eptesicus fuscus

Description: It's a large bat, brown above with a paler belly, with hairs dark at base; wings and interfemoral membrane black. Their colors vary from light in deserts to dark in forests. Length is 110-130 mm; weight is 13-18 g. No fur on wings or interfemoral membrane.

Habitat: Most common bat found in cities. Maternity colonies, numbering up to 500-600 bats, are usually located in buildings, but sometimes under a bridge or a HotLlow tree, farmlands, parks and forests. Less frequently, during the winter, they can be found in caves, mines and other protected areas. While hibernating, the body temperature may be only slightly above freezing.

Food: Their food is entirely insects, which they capture in flight. Fecal pellets of these bats have shown that they feed on beetles, wasps, and their allies, ants, stone flies, plant hoppers and leafhoppers, true bugs, and cockroaches. Peculiarly enough, it rarely eats flies or moths. They are seldom found in their digestive system.

Range: Occurs throughout most of North America from central Canada, south through Central America into northern South America.

Reproduction: Females and young form maternity colonies of 20-300
individuals. Such colonies are in warmer locations than ordinary
roosting sites.

Other: The Big Brown Bat is a relatively fast flier, at a speed of 40 mph (65 km/h).

More information :

Natural History Notesbooks: Mammals

eNature: bats

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image hoary bat

Common name: Hoary Bat

Species: Lasiurus cinereus

Description: A largest bat in its range; ears are short and rounded, with black, naked rims. Densely furred, grayish-brownish color, heavily frosted with white on tips of fur. Length 136mm and tail 57mm; foot 12mm; weight 20-35g.

Habitat: Moves north in the spring and south in the winter. It is found in wooded areas, both deciduous and coniferous. It hangs on tree branches. Comes out at night, but during migration it comes out in the day time.

Food: They eat moths, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, termites, dragonflies, wasps, and many other types of insects.

Range: They are found in all 50 states, Canada to South America, the only bat found in Hawaii.

Reproduction: Mates in fall and maybe in winter; usully have 2 youngs born late May-early June, but they can have 1-4 young.

Other: Main enemies are hawks and owls.The bat has a large skull and large strong teeth.

More information :

.www.ireseau.com

gamma.mhpcc.edu

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image little brown myotis

Common name: Little Brown Myotis

Species: Myotis lucifugus

Description: This bat is a small mammal with a body length of about 3 - 3 1/2" and weighing approximately 1/8 to 1/2 an ounce. The wingspan ranges from 6 - 8". As the name says, these bats are a brown glossy color, with tips of hairs burnished brown above, and light buff color below. Ears are rounded and short.

Habitat: These bats are usually found living around swampy lands where insects are abundant. Their most common habitat is near rivers, streams, trails, and other outdoor areas with plenty of food and water. Bats will often fly down close to other mammals that have insects nesting in their fur. In winter they hibernate in caves and mines.

Food: Little brown bats are insectivorous. They feed on small insects, especially flies and moths. They can eat 50% of their own body weight every night. They use echo location to navigate and locate the prey.

Range: The little brown myotis is found from Labrador west to central Alaska and south of the Appalachians in Georgia and Arkansas. They are located in most states excluding Florida, Texas, and Southern California. They are very abundant in New hampshire.

Reproduction: Sexual maturity is reached in 6 to 9 months for females and about a year for males. Breeding occurs from September to October but the female stores the sperm for fertilization in the spring. The young are born from mid-June to early July. The females usually produce one offspring per year and occasionally two, which become self-supporting within a month

 

Other:

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image long-legged myotis

Common name: Long-legged Myotis

Species: Myotis volans

Description: A large myotis. Tawny or reddish to nearly black above; grayish to pale buff below. Ears are short

Habitat: Mainly coniferous forests. In summer, roosts in trees, crevices or buildings.

Food: The Long-legged Myotis feeds primarily on small months, but also eats other small insects.

Range: Western North America from west and south of British Columbia and Alberta, south to Mexico and east to Dakotas,Nebraska,Colorado, and western Texas.

Reproduction: Mates in fall; fertilization delayed until spring. Ovulates March-May; 1 young born May-August.

Other: These bats form nursery colonies of up to several hundred members, which disperse in fall. Their winter behavior is unknown.

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image palid bat

Common name: Palid bat

Species: Antrozous pallidus

Description: Bats have wings and the ability to fly. Their wings are not constructed like a birds but instead have leathery skin streatched across the bones that move like hands and fingers.

Habitat: The pallid bat is usually found in rocky, montainous areas and near water. They are also found over more open, sparsely vegetated grasslands, and they seem to prefer to forage in the open. The pallid bat has three
different roosts. The day roost is usually in a warm, horizontal opening such as in attics or rock cracks; the night roost is usually in the open, near foliage; and the hibernation roost, which is often in buildings, caves, or cracks in rocks.

Food: The Pallid bat can consume up to half its weight in insects every night. It rarely catches flying insects; instead, they usually capture their prey on foliage or the ground. In addition to using
its ecHotLocation, the pallid bat listens for sounds made by the prey, and it also has decent visual abilites. After catching prey, the bats return to their night roost, which is usually in an open area, to eat their catch. They feed on insects such as the ten-lined beetle and also on crickets and scorpions.

Range: Pallid bats are found in Texas. There are two distint races in Texas. One is the A.P. bunkeri that lives on the northern panhandle. The other is the A.P. pallidus, and lives in the west and the south. The pallid bats are also found in southern-central Washington.

Reproduction: Pallid bats become sexually mature at about two years of age. Mating begins in October and goes through February. The female stores
the sperm until sometime during the first two weeks in April, when ovulation and fertilization take place. The female bat usually gives brith to twins. Birth takes place during the first half of June. The foetuses weigh 3 to 3.5 grams at birth, and cannot open their eyes. In four to five weeks young bats are capable of short flights, and by eight weeks they attain full adult size.

Other:

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image silverhaired bat

Common name: Silver haired bat

Species: Lasionycteris noctivagans

Description: The silver haired bat is a medium sized bat. It has a length of 90-115 mm, wingspread, 270-310 mm; head size, 60 mm long; and a hind foot length of 6-12 mm. This bat receives it's name from its dark, silver-tipped fur. The bat's fur is usually black in color; however, some individuals may be dark brown with yellow-tipped fur. The ears of the bat are relatively short (15-17 mm in height), round, and naked.

Habitat: The silver-haired bat likes temperate, northern hardwoods with ponds or streams nearby. The usual day roost for the bat is behind loose tree bark. Due to its solitary nature and adaptation, the bat rarely invades buildings in large enough numbers to cause alarm. During the winter months, it hibernates in northern areas, inside trees, buildings, rock crevices, and similar protected structures.

Food: The Silvered-haired bat is insectivorous. Its diet mainly consists of flies, beetles, and moths. It also eats any bug that gets in its mouth while flying.

Range: It's found throughout the United States, northward into soughtern Canada up to the treeline, and reaches its northern limits in Alaska.

Reproduction: They reproduce sexually. Mating occurs in autumn when both sexes congregate for migration. Births occur after a gestation period of 50-60 days.

Other: Enemies of the silver-haired bat include the striped skunk and the great horned owl.

More information :

Silver-haired Bats(Lasionycteris noctivagans)

eNature:bats

 

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Common name: Western pipistrelle

Species: Pipistrellus hesperus

Description: This is the smalestl bat in the USA. It is yellow, gray, or red-brown on the top. The belly is white. Wings, ears, nose and feet are black.

Habitat: They hibernate in caves, mines and crevices.

Food: Pipistrelles eat insects. They skim over ponds, streams or other bodies of fresh water to drink.

Range: In the western United States from southeast Washington to Texas.

Reproduction: In June, females collect in a maternity colony where each gives birth to two young.

Other: This bat is usually the first to come out in the evening. It flies slowly and its flight is erratic.

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image western small-footed myotis

Common name: Western small-footed myotis

Species: Myotis ciliolabrum

Description: Small short ears, long tail, upper parts light buff to warm buff with a tri-color effect. Under part is pale buff to nearly white. The tail measures 37mm, its feet are7mm, making the total lengh 79mm. Weight - 4-6 grams.

Habitat: It lives in lava tube caves, cracks, crevices, bark and old buildings.

Food: It eats small insects, moths, flies, bugs, and ants.

Range: Californa, Washington Oregon, Texas

Reproduction: Mating is done after hibernation, one baby is born in June, Twins are rare.

Other: Found in drier areas. A black mask across the muzzle to the ears.

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image yuma myotis

Common name: Yuma Myotis

Species: Myotis yumanesis

Description: The yuma myotis is a small bat. The fur is tan or brown on top with white or buff colored fur underneath.

Habitat: The yuma myotis can exist in many different habitats from woodlands, to deserts near open water. It must have rivers, lakes, streams, or other open water sources. Since the Columbia River flows through the Hanford Reach, and this is a protected area, it is a perfect habitat for the yuma myotis.

Food: This bat eats insects. They usually feed over water from dusk until about two hours after sunset. They like to eat moths, beetles, and other small insects. Prey is found through ecHotLocation. The bat sends out ultrasonic sounds that bounce off the prey, telling the bat where to find its food. It flies through the air and catches the insect in its mouth. It feed for several minutes and then drinks.

Range: Western North America, from British Columbia to Central Mexico and east to Oklahoma.

Reproduction: Females HotLd the male sperm over the winter. When the female ovulates in the spring , the egg is fertilzed. The females gather in maternity roosts in April. Each female gives birth to one offspring.

Other: These bats roost on vertical surfaces, hanging by their thumbs and toes, with their wings tucked in. At the Hanford Reach, they roost mostly in abandoned buildings.

 

 

More information :

Burke Museum, University of Washington

Californis Animal Facts

Animal Diversity Web

University of Nevada, Sensitive Species

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