Species Profile: Grey-headed flying fox

Hello again, welcome back to animals under threat. Today, we will be covering a mega bat species that is native to Australia. Say hello to the Grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus).

 This bat species belongs to the Genus Pteropus which includes some of the largest bat species found from all over the world. The Grey-headed flying fox is currently the largest known bat species in Australia with a large territory ranging from coastal eastern and south-eastern Australia, Brisbane and Victoria (Campbell and Woods, 2013).  The Grey headed flying fox bat is characterized by their grey coloured head with an orange collar circling the neck, body covered in grey/black fur and fur covering the legs which is a characteristic of bats belonging to the genus Pteropus (Jones, 2013).

 

Bats roosting in a tree picture by Justin Welbergen and bat eating nectar by Andrew Mercer.

 

 

Grey-headed flying fox bat feed on pollen, nectar and fruits around 50km from their roosting area. While feeding on the flowers/fruits, the bat will disperse pollen and seeds to other areas making the bat an important disperser of plants. Grey-headed flying fox bats do not use echolocation to find food instead they use their sense of smell and sight to locate food (Schmelitschek et al, 2009). Determining the age of wild bats is difficult due to their high flying lifestyle and most age records of this bat species are from ones raised in captivity (Divlian et al, 2006).

 

Male bats surround themselves with a harem of females and his children. Baby bats are born during the daylight and are curious about the world around them. The mother bats use their large wings to cover and hide the baby from other bats or animals. Baby bats hang on to their mother while she is flying to find food and will stay with their mother even when they are begun to fly themselves (Jones, 2013).

 

 

Baby bat with mother and mother flying with baby by Vivien Jones

This species of bat is under threat for urban development as forest that provide the food needed for the bats are been cut down for houses. Powerlines electrocute bats as they land on the lines in order to rest. Extreme heat has also affect this bat species causing them to die from lack of water and shade, although even in the shade bats have been found dead because of the heat. A rare occurrence of abandonment of baby bats by adults can lead them to be raised by rescuers (Jones, 2013).

 

Next time, we will be covering the only member of the genus Setonix, appears in a lot of selfies, and is sometimes known as the happiest animal.

 

 

 

References

Campbell, I, & Woods, S 2013, Wildlife of Australia, Princeton University Press, Princeton. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [28 April 2019].

 

DIVLJAN, A., PARRY-JONES, K. & WARDLE, G.M. 2006, "Age Determination in the Grey-Headed Flying Fox", Journal of Wildlife Management, vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 607-611.

 

Jones, V 2013, Flying Foxes : Australian Night Foresters, Rosenberg Publishing, Dural, NSW. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [30 April 2019].

 

Schmelitschek, E., French, K. & Parry-Jones, K. 2009, "Fruit availability and utilisation by grey-headed flying foxes (Pteropodidae: Pteropus poliocephalus) in a human-modified environment on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia", Wildlife Research, vol. 36, no. 7, pp. 592-600.

 

Picture references

http://sydneybats.org.au/flying-foxes/gray-headed-flying-fox/grey-headed-flying-fox-reproduction/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey-headed_flying_fox