Big brown bat
Encyclopedia
The Big Brown Bat is larger in size than comparative species of bat
s, from about 4 to 5 inches (10 – 13 cm) in body length, with a 11-13 inch (28 to 33 cm) wingspan and weighing 1/2 to 5/8 ounce. The fur is moderately long, and shiny brown. The wing membranes, ears, feet, and face are dark brown to blackish in color.
Big brown bats are nocturnal, roosting during the day in hollow trees, beneath loose tree bark, in the crevices of rocks or in man-made structures such as attics, barns, old buildings, eaves and window shutters. Big brown bats navigate through the night skies by use of echolocation
, producing ultrasonic
sounds through the mouth or nose. Big brown bats are known also to produce audible sound during flight. Its voice is a click or a sound like escaping steam.
, eating many kinds of night-flying insects including mosquitoes, moths
, beetles, and wasps which they capture in flight. This causes the sudden, frequent changes in direction.
The subspecies Eptesicus f. fuscus occurs in the entire eastern half of the U.S. except Florida
. The subspecies Eptesicus f. pallidus occurs in Utah
.
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s, from about 4 to 5 inches (10 – 13 cm) in body length, with a 11-13 inch (28 to 33 cm) wingspan and weighing 1/2 to 5/8 ounce. The fur is moderately long, and shiny brown. The wing membranes, ears, feet, and face are dark brown to blackish in color.
Big brown bats are nocturnal, roosting during the day in hollow trees, beneath loose tree bark, in the crevices of rocks or in man-made structures such as attics, barns, old buildings, eaves and window shutters. Big brown bats navigate through the night skies by use of echolocation
Animal echolocation
Echolocation, also called biosonar, is the biological sonar used by several kinds of animals.Echolocating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them. They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects...
, producing ultrasonic
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is thus not separated from "normal" sound based on differences in physical properties, only the fact that humans cannot hear it. Although this limit varies from person to person, it is...
sounds through the mouth or nose. Big brown bats are known also to produce audible sound during flight. Its voice is a click or a sound like escaping steam.
Diet
Big brown bats are insectivorousInsectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
, eating many kinds of night-flying insects including mosquitoes, moths
Moths
Moths may refer to:* Gustav Moths , German rower* The Moths!, an English indie rock band* MOTHS, members of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats...
, beetles, and wasps which they capture in flight. This causes the sudden, frequent changes in direction.
Hibernation
Big brown bats hibernate during the winter months, often in different locations than their summer roosts. Winter roosts tend to be natural subterranean locations such as caves and underground mines where temperatures remain stable; it is still unknown where a large majority of Big Brown Bats spend the winter. If the weather warms enough, they may awaken to seek water, and even breed.Life cycle
Big brown bats mate sporadically from November through March. After the breeding season, pregnant females separate themselves into maternity colonies.Subspecies
- Eptesicus fuscus fuscus (Palisot de BeauvoisPalisot de BeauvoisAmbroise Marie François Joseph Palisot, Baron de Beauvois 27 July 1752 Arras - 21 January 1820 Paris, was a French naturalist.Palisot collected insects in Oware, Benin, Saint Domingue, and the United States, during the period 1786 – 1797. Trained as a botanist, Palisot published a significant...
) - Eptesicus fuscus pallidus (Young)
The subspecies Eptesicus f. fuscus occurs in the entire eastern half of the U.S. except Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. The subspecies Eptesicus f. pallidus occurs in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
External links
- Eptesicus fuscus Echolocation Lab at Brown University
- NewScientist.com Article from issue 2581 of New Scientist magazine, 06 December 2006, page 21- Claims bats can navigate by sensing Earth's magnetic field
- Identifying Big Brown Bats by Professional Humane Bat Removers in New England
- Video of Big Brown Bat from Boulder, CO