Order – Chiroptera
Bats are the only mammals that fly. They do this through the use of thin layers of skin that connect all fingers with the arm, sides, leg and tail. The middle finger is usually the longest and the thumb is free. The male and female generally look alike, with the young frequently darker in colour.
Bats utter high-pitched squeaks, sometimes fifty or more per second, which are inaudible to humans. Aided by their sensitive ears, they hear the echoes of these sounds as they bounce off insects and nearby obstacles. Using this "radar", bats can find their prey in the dark and avoid hitting obstructions. Bats are nocturnal animals, they roost by day, hanging upside down in caves, rock crevices, hollow trees, buildings, or mine shafts. Some species are solitary, others are colonial. In winter bats either hibernate, or, like birds, migrate south, with some species both migrating and hibernating.
The diet of bats in eastern North America is exclusively insects, which they capture on the wing, either in their mouths or in the "dragnet" of their tail membrane.
Females often assemble in "maternity roosts", away from the males before giving birth to the young, usually one or two, which are born from May to July. Young babies often cling to their mother when she flies. Later they hang by themselves at their roost until they are able to fly, which is usually in five to six weeks.
Bats have few natural enemies. Bats are complementary to birds in that birds feed on the day-flying insects and bats on night-fliers.
Eastern Pipistrelle – pipustrellus subflavus
Description:
Size: forearm – 1 1/5 in. (3 cm)
Smallest eastern bat. Yellowish-brown to pale brownish, somewhat grizzled, ears and forearms pinkish–brown contrasting with blackish wing membranes. Fur tri-coloured, darkish brown at base, then lighter yellowish brown with tips darker, can be seen by blowing on their fur to separate the hairs. Thumb large, 1/5 the length of forearm.Habitat:
Arid lowlands to evergreen mountain forests, woods, canyons, cliffs, rocky hillsides, waterways, and buildings.
Habits:
Comes out early, often before sundown, flight erratic, weak, mothlike, often undulating. Hibernates in caves, never in clusters.
Reproduction:
Females congregate as do those of other bat species to bring forth single young in late spring, mating takes place in fall and occasionally in winter.
Range:
Throughout much of northeast US from south Canada to north Virginia and west to Nebraska.
Silverhaired Bat – Lasionycteris noctivagans
Description:
Size: forearm 1 2/3 in (4.2cm)
Medium sized. Brownish to blackish front frosted with silvery - white. Females are somewhat paler than males. Ears and membrane are black in colour.Similarities:
Hoary Bat is larger and has a buffy throat.
Habitat:
Lakes and streams in wooded regions, up to evergreens in the mountains.
Habits:
Hangs in hollow trees, under loose bark, amid thick leaves and in buildings. Its flight is distinctive, fluttery with short sideways turns, sallies and glides. In summer males are solitary, females are sociable. In winter, many presumably migrate south, whole some hibernate in buildings.
Range:
Throughout most of eastern United States from Hudson Bay south to Georgia.
Red Bat – Lasiurus Borealis
Description:
Size: forearm 1 2/3 in (4.1 cm)
Medium sized, only reddish bat in existence. Male is light reddish – orange, female much duller and with frosted appearance. Fur soft and fluffy, ears short and wings narrow. Tail membrane fully furred above.Habitat:
Forested regions.
Habits:
Roosts in vegetation often low. Flies early, often high and descending in spirals. Migrates April – May and September – late November. Sometimes flies in numbers like birds. Migrates in the winter.
Reproduction:
Mates in flight in August. 1-4 young, born late May – mid June.
Range:
Throughout southern Canada, south to the Gulf of Mexico.
Hoary Bat – Lasiurus Cinereus
Description:
Size: forearm – 2+ in (5.1+cm) wingspan 14 in (35.6cm) or more.
Largest eastern bat, recognized by large size, swift flight and narrow pointed wings. Fur frosted, general appearance greyish white hairs are dark brown or blackish at base. Followed by band of golden yellow, band of dark brown or blackish subterminally and a white tip. Tail membrane fully furred above.Similarities:
Silverhaired bat is coloured similarly but lacks buffy throat.
Habitats:
Hangs alone in trees and bushes. Emerges late in the evening. Frequents meadows and watercourses. Flight is direct and purposeful. Seldom seen.
Reproduction:
1-2 young (usually twins) born in late May or June. Weigh nearly 1/5-oz (5.0g) at birth. Carried by female in flight until old enough to be left hanging in tree when she forages.
Range:
Throughout southern Canada and eastern US in warm months. Migrates south in the winter.
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