Bat news

Ana Popa-Lisseanu

From NPR's Morning Edition

Giant Bats Snatch Birds from Night Sky

Giant noctules, or Nyctalus lasiopterus, are among the largest bats in Europe.
Researchers in Spain have found that these bats catch and eat migrating songbirds on the wing.

"They wrap the prey between their wings and the tail membrane," [Ana] Popa-Lisseanu says, "so they make kind of a cage for the bird."

Then they eat what they can while they drop like rocks, abandoning the prey when they approach the ground.

"It makes complete sense," [Peter] Marra [of the Smithsonian] says, "because there's so much biomass that it's not surprising that there's a species taking advantage of it. And it's really neat that a bat is doing it."

Really neat.

Bats at Dirty John Bonny.