Natterer's Bat
Myotis nattereri
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Gleans insects straight off leaves and bark, and can take a spider out of its own web.
A medium-sized bat with greyish-brown upperparts and a strikingly clean white belly, a pink face and a distinctive fringe of stiff bristles along the edge of the tail membrane. Natterer's bats roost in tree holes, old stone buildings and bridges, and hunt in woodland, parkland and along the treed corridors around Dumfries. Stone bridges over the region's burns are a classic roost site.
Behaviour
Natterer's is a gleaner: it flies slowly and manoeuvrably close to vegetation, using very quiet, broadband echolocation, and picks insects and spiders directly off leaves, bark and even out of webs rather than catching them in flight. The bristled tail membrane is used as a scoop to trap prey. Its slow, hovering flight makes it one of the more identifiable bats to watch in a torch beam.
When to see it
Quick facts
- Family
- Vesper bats (Vespertilionidae)
- Size
- Wingspan 24.5–30 cm
- UK status
- Protected under UK and European law
Photo by Gilles San Martin from Namur, Belgium, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons