2001/08/07 by Carlos Ibáñez, Javier Juste, Juan Luís García‐Mudarra +1 · 2 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Bat Biology and Ecology Studies #Marine animal studies overview #Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.171140598
openalex publication_date 2001/08/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Bat predation on birds is a very rare phenomenon in nature. Most documented reports of bird-eating bats refer to tropical bats that occasionally capture resting birds. Millions of small birds concentrate and cross over the world's temperate regions during migration, mainly at night, but no nocturnal predators are known to benefit from this enormous food resource. An analysis of 14,000 fecal pellets of the greater noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus) reveals that this species captures and eats large numbers of migrating passerines, making it the only bat species so far known that regularly preys on birds. The echolocation characteristics and wing morphology of this species strongly suggest that it captures birds in flight.