Brazilian Free-tailed Bats

 Over Easter 2011 I traveled with my family to Southeastern Arizona for vacation and to visit my sister who lives in the small town of Morenci.

 On our drive to Morenci we stopped at Roper State Park outside of Safford, AZ.  After driving around the small lake we stopped at the picnic area to use the restrooms.  As I was going in I noticed droppings on the ground that did not look like bird droppings, but rather bat.

 

When I exited I immediately heard the familiar high pitched chattering of bats.  (We have two Straw-colored Fruit Bats at the Sanctuary, so I am familiar with their vocalizations.)  I began to look around and, sure enough, there on the wall was a bat.  I very carefully ran out, alerted my parents and then went to the car to get my camera.  I knew I had my “Bats of the Rocky Mountain West” field guide with me, but I needed to get some photos so I could I.D. this bat in case he flew off or crawled out of sight.  I took several photos.  We could hear more bats up in the crevices of this building, but could not see them.

Once back in the car I pulled out my field guide to work on identifying this very cool bat.  After searching the field guide and reading the field keys to bats of the Rocky Mountains I determined that it was a Free-tailed Bat Species. There are three species of Free-tailed Bats that exist in this region of Arizona, the Pocketed, Brazilian and Big Free-tailed Bats.  I am leaning towards this one being a Brazilian Free-tailed Bat.

 

Brazilian Free-tailed Bats are found throughout the southern US and parts of Mexico.  They inhabit a variety of habitats, from deserts to tropical forests.  They live in large colonies.  The largest known colony in the world contains about 20 million adults and is in Bracken Cave outside of San Antonio, Texas.  Their diet consists mainly of beetles and moths.  They have long, narrow wings that help them with high-speed flight, reaching speeds of 30 mph or more.

This was definitely a highlight of the trip for me, and I hope that in the future I will encounter more bats to add to my list.

Submitted by Cathy Spahn,  World Bird Sanctuary Field Studies Coordinator