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Indian flying fox

Pteropus giganteus

Photo by HemantKumar
Published on Project Noah
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18.0459, 78.122

Field Notes

Description:

The Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus) is a species of megabat in the Pteropodidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, China, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Also known as the greater Indian fruit bat, it lives in mainly forests. It is a very large bat with a wingspan between 1.2 and 1.5 m (3 ft 10 in and 4 ft 10 in). It is nocturnal and feeds mainly on ripe fruits, such as mangoes and bananas, and nectar. This bat is gregarious and lives in colonies which can number a few hundred. Their offspring have no specific name besides 'young'. They have one to two young.
The Indian flying fox lives in tropical forests and swamps, where a large body of water is nearby.

Notes:

Indian flying fox with baby

Reference Links:

Indian flying fox

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (27)
Scott Frazier
Please describe the habitat where you photographed this bat under "Habitat". It is a description of the place you found it, not a description for the general habitat of the species from a website. Thanks
HemantKumar
thanks a lot friends, here r few more images :)
The MnMs
Wooow..amazing! I did not know they even fly with their babies. Many thanks for sharing in PN!
dotun55
Getting a good zoom cam soon. Won't be long before you see Afri-bats again ; )
AfriBats
Hope to see bat spotting from Africa, Dotun ;-)
dotun55
Great documentary! Good for Afribats : )
AfriBats
@Gilma Jeanette They are briefly dipping into the water for 2 purposes: To drink by wetting the belly fur, and then licking the water from the pelage, and in dry & hot regions for thermoregulation, i.e. to cool down.
Gilma Jeannette Ospino Ferreira-Norman
Amazing series!! HemantKumar. Is it carrying a young one and what is it doing in the water and in the daytime?? Never seen one before and I really think You have the best pictures and I got the best introduction.
Neil Ross
Fabulous photos, Hemant. And she's got a pup too! How lucky you are to have seen this. Well done on this amazing spotting.
arlanda
Impressive series, Hemant!
Tori2
Is it caring something?

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Bat Monitoring Project

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Photographed
PublishedMay 20, 2013

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