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Black Flying Fox

Pteropus alecto

Photo by Neil Ross
Published on Project Noah
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-27.5084, 153.018

Field Notes

Description:

The Black Flying Fox has short black hair with a contrasting reddish-brown mantle, and a mean forearm length of 164 mm (6.46 in) and a mean weight of 710 g (1.57 lb). It is one of the largest bat species in the world, and has a wingspan of more than 1 m. It is a megabat in the family Pteropodidae.

Habitat:

These bats are a common sight around the evening skies of Brisbane. This fellow has been feeding each night on the fruit of a Lilli Pilli (Syzygium luehmannii), an Australian native tree.

Notes:

In the same Lilli Pilli tree there have also been Brushtail Possums feeding, as well as a single Ringtail Possum. The bats will not approach (or stay in) the tree when the Brushtails are present, but seem quite happy to feed with the smaller Ringtail. Here's some info on the tree itself - http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/94416007

Reference Links:

Black flying fox, Wildlife Queensland - Black Flying Fox

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (4)
Neil Ross
My camera was too slow to get better pics of the bats in flight, but at least I got one shot.
The MnMs
Nice the last two with the bat head down and then yeepeeeh..there he/she goes flying! :-)
Neil Ross
And they're big too. I've never seen one up so close in my own yard. They do squabble amongst themselves, screeching and carrying on, but then so do the possums. This Lilli Pilli tree was abuzz with noisy critters.
Dixie
These are so cool!

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Bat Monitoring Project
Mission
Wilds of South-East Queensland
Mission
Global Flight
Mission
Queensland's Nocturnal Wildlife
Mission
Wildlife of Brisbane

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Photographed
PublishedNovember 20, 2013

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