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Beautiful Bats

Bats are beautiful, sophisticated, intelligent and ubiquitous mammals, yet they are often misunderstood due to widespread harmful myths and legends. It is very important to celebrate bats because they are endangered, and are requisite to the survival of our planet. International Bat Appreciation Day is celebrated every year on April 17 (and Bat Appreciation Week falls later in the season, in late October) so this is the perfect time to learn more about one of the world’s most mysterious creatures, the bat!

Fruit Bats

Hello, my name is Miss Sara and in this blog, I will provide many fascinating and educational facts about bats, including a link to an article detailing their extremely unique reliance on a combination of hearing and sight in order to locate their prey. Next there will be a chart illustrating bat anatomy, the science of bat echolocation, a few different bat topics taken from Maryland Department of Natural Resources as well as a chart illustrating the 10 species of bats found in Maryland. Also highlighted is one of our main CCPL children’s databases, National Geographic Kids, and some entertaining and educational children’s resources from our CCPL catalog.

Important Resources

Below are interesting and educational facts about bats (facts pulled from various website sources, which are cited and linked below):

  • Bats live almost everywhere, except the Arctic, Antarctic and a few oceanic islands. They usually roost in caves, old buildings or trees. They are the only mammals that can fly! Other mammals like flying squirrels, or flying possum, can glide, but not fly. Bats are nocturnal – they are active during the night, dusk, or dawn. Bats are a successful group…they are the second largest order of mammals (there are more than 1,100 species of bats).

  • Bats fly with their hands. Bat and bird wings are different – birds do not have long finger-like bones in their wings like bats do. Therefore, birds cannot move each of their fingers – but bats can. Because of this, bats can change their direction while flying or fly in any pattern they want: this makes it easier to catch their food. A bat flies as if they are “swimming” through the air – pushing both wings down and backward. A bird’s wing has lots of feathers, while a bat’s wing is mostly a stretchy, thin skin called a patagium. This thin membrane of skin stretches between each finger bone, connects to the bat’s ankle, and connects to the bat’s tail (if it has one). A bat folds its wings next to its body when not flying. Bats have one claw (sometimes called a bat thumb) that sticks out of the top of the wing. They use their “thumb” to climb and crawl. Interestingly, bats also use their thumbs to clean their ears! Bats’ wings have a lot of maneuverability (they can change direction well) – more than a bird, in fact – but they do not have a lot of lift. Because of this, bats usually have to climb up onto a tree or jump up into the air for the boost before they start flapping their wings.
  • Most bats rest, sleep and hibernate in an upside-down position. They hang on to branches or rocks with their feet. To do this they have a locking mechanism on the tendons in their feet which stops them from slipping. The advantage of this is that the energy they spend hanging on is greatly reduced. Once the tendons are locked, the muscles in their legs and feet can relax. Even dead bats stay hanging.
  • Bats have been on Earth for more than 50 million years, and are widely dispersed across six continents. Globally, bats provide vital ecosystem services in the form of insect pest consumption, plant pollination, and seed dispersal, making them absolutely essential to the health of global ecosystems. In one hour, a single bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes.
  • Of the over 1,000 species of bats spread across the globe, there are only 3 species of bats known as “vampire bats” which are hematophagous (blood drinking) – the Common Vampire Bat, the Hairy-Legged Vampire Bat and the White-Winged Vampire Bat.
  • Megabats eat fruit, nectar or pollen. They pollinate flowers and sometimes spread their seeds. Many tropical plants completely depend on bats. Most microbats (7 out of 10 bat species) are insectivorous, that is, they eat insects. Some microbats eat small vertebrate animals (small mammals or fish) or even other bats. Bats usually live in caves, or trees. In North America and in Europe they sometimes live in people’s houses or barns. In Britain, all bat species and their roosts are legally protected, by both domestic and European legislation.
  • An interesting thing about bats is that even though they can see with their eyes, they also use their ears to help them ‘see’ in the dark. Because of this, they can fly into very dark places where no eye could see. This way of sensing is called echolocation. Echolocation means they use echoes to find where things are. When a bat makes its noises, the sound waves move away from the bat. If they hit something, they bounce back to the bat (this bounce is called an echo.) If nothing bounces back, the bat knows there is nothing in front. They use this echolocation to catch their food, like butterflies or dragonflies. When a bat begins its nightly exploration, it usually sends out about 10 calls per second. From the echo they know what is in front. When they get an echo from something really good to eat, the calls increase up to 200 calls per second (this increase of sounds is called a feeding buzz).
  • Some species of bats live up to 40 years. Bats grow in a variety of sizes – the smallest bat species is Kitti’s Hog-Nosed Bat (also known as the Bumblebee Bat) which weighs about 2 grams, measures 1 inch and has a wingspan of 5 inches. The largest bat species is the Giant Golden-Crowned Flying Fox Bat (pictured in the two main blog images above) weighing up to 4 lbs with a wingspan of up to 6 feet. Bats are also very clean animals, grooming themselves almost constantly.
  • Bats also have reasonably good eyesight, and can see their prey and where they are flying if it’s not too dark. There are lots of stories about bats flying right into people, but this is not true. They can see in the light very well, and in the dark, they can see much better than us. So the expression “blind as a bat” is not very scientific.
  • Today, bats are under unprecedented threat from widespread habitat destruction, accelerated climate change, invasive species, and other stresses. Without concerted international action, their populations will continue to fall, driving many species to extinction.

Web site Sources

Below is an article detailing the visual acuity of bats, courtesy of optimax.co.uk:

Blind as a Bat: How Much Truth is Actually in the Saying?

Below is a chart detailing the anatomy of a bat, courtesy of Britannica:

Below is a chart detailing the anatomy of a bat, courtesy of Britannica:

Website/Chart Source: 

Britannica: Bats Form and Function

Below is a website detailing bat echolocation, courtesy of Maryland Department of Natural Resources: 

The Science of Bat Echolocation

Below is a website listing the 10 species of bats found in Maryland, courtesy of Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Click on each species to learn more:

Guide to Maryland’s Bats

Below is a chart illustrating the 10 species of Maryland bats, courtesy of Animal Spot:

Below is a chart illustrating the 10 species of Maryland bats, courtesy of Animal Spot:

Image/Chart Source: 

https://www.animalspot.net/bats-in-us/bats-in-maryland

Additional Resources:

Click on the link below to explore our children’s database, and search for all things bats:

National Geographic Kids

Engage kids and young students to broaden their educational horizons with reputable, special, authoritative, and age-appropriate digital content that brings them the world in a way they have never seen before. National Geographic Kids will take them on amazing adventures in science, nature, wildlife, culture, geography, archaeology, and space.

*All book cover photos are from Goodreads/all title descriptions are from the CCPL COSMOS website.

You may also check out our CCPL catalog for both entertaining and educational children’s resources on bats and general bat conservation, such as:

The Weird And Wonderful World Of Bats: Demystifying These Often-Misunderstood Creatures by Alyson Brokaw

In this fascinating science book, a behavioral and bat ecologist reintroduces readers to bats, redeeming their historically bad reputation. These woefully misunderstood creatures dwell in darkness, inspire fear, and threaten danger. They’ve been viewed as the pawns of evil deities and taken the undeserved blame for the spread of deadly viruses. The Weird and Wonderful World of Bats provides a fresh introduction to these curious flying mammals, explaining how they experience the world through unique senses, where and how they fly, the origins of their complex relationships with humans, and how we can learn from them–not only to coexist, but potentially grow healthier and wiser together.

Click HERE to place a hold request

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

After she falls headfirst into a bird’s nest, a baby bat is raised like a bird until she is reunited with her mother.

Click HERE to place a hold request (1993 original print edition)

Click HERE to place a hold request (2018 republished edition)

Click HERE to place a hold request (2020 RAB audiobook)

Bats: An Illustrated Guide To All Species by Marianne Taylor and Merlin Tuttle

This book explores bats and their fundamental role in our ecosystems through lavish full-color photographs and lively narrative. From the Giant Golden Crowned Flying Fox, a megabat with a wingspan of more than five feet, to the aptly named Bumblebee Bat, the world’s smallest mammal, the number and diversity of bat species have proven to be both rich and underestimated. Nocturnal, fast-flying, and secretive, bats are difficult to observe and catalog. This richly illustrated handbook presents bats’ evolution, biology, behavior, and ecology. It offers in-depth profiles of four hundred megabats and microbats and detailed summaries of all the species identified to date. Complete with an introduction exploring bats’ natural history and their unique adaptations to life on the wing, Bats includes close-up images of these animals’ delicate and intricate forms and faces, each shaped by evolution to meet the demands of an extraordinarily specialized life.

Click HERE to place a hold request

My New Friend Is So Fun! by Mo Willems

Gerald the elephant and Snake fear that Piggie and Brian Bat will have so much fun together, they will no longer need their best friends.

Click HERE to place a hold request

The Bat House Guide by Merlin Tuttle and Danielle Cordani

Why build bat houses? Because bats are essential. They protect our crops, reduce use of pesticides that can cause cancer and dementia, and even help protect us from mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile. However, they are in alarming decline, often due to loss of natural roosts. Armed with this handy guide from Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation (MTBC), you can have fun helping both bats and your neighborhood. We summarize decades of discoveries by more than a dozen leading experts to provide step-by-step instructions and diagrams for their favorite designs. Some of their conclusions will surprise you. Whether you buy or build bat houses, your success will improve when using this guide. Follow our building advice or look for vendors who meet the high standards required to gain MTBC’s Seal of Approval. And if you achieve exceptional success, or even unexplained failure, let us hear from you at MerlinTuttle.org. Most of all, enjoy your bats and share your experiences with friends and neighbors!

Click HERE to place a hold request

Bats At The Library by Brian Lies

Bored with another normal, inky evening, bats discover an open library window and fly in to enjoy the photocopier, water fountain, and especially the books and stories found there.

Click HERE to place a hold request (2008 original print edition)

Click HERE to place a hold request (2009 picture book on DVD, 11 minutes)

Amara And The Bats by Emma Reynolds

Amara loves bats, so when she learns there are none near her new home due to habitat loss, she overcomes her feelings of helplessness and inspires her community to take action. Includes facts about bats and bat houses.

Click HERE to place a hold request

Fiona The Fruit Bat by Dan Riskin 

It’s time for Fiona the fruit bat to take her very first flight, but she’s scared. How will she fly when she can’t see in the dark? Mama just says, “listen.” But how will listening help her to see? Then she hears a mysterious sound from deep in her cave. To find out what’s making that noise–and to finally fly–Fiona will have to unlock a secret hidden inside herself. Written by biologist and bestselling author Dan Riskin, and rooted in the real-life biology of short-tailed fruit bats, this adorable story features: The fascinating science behind echolocation, including backmatter pages with information on fruit bats from the author. 

Click HERE to place a hold request

Bat Can’t Sleep by Carly Gledhill

A bouncy, peep-through story–perfect for lively little ones at bedtime. Bat is too excited to sleep. There’s so much to see and do! So off she goes, hopping and skipping, swinging and diving…but will Bat EVER be tired?

Click HERE to place a hold request

Little Bat Up All Day by Brian Lies

Little Bat has to know. What is daytime like? He has lots of questions about what happens while bats are asleep. Where do the stars go? And just who’s awake in the daytime, anyway? Luckily, Rusty the squirrel is there to show him around. But can Little Bat stay awake all day? And how is it possible for two animals, one nocturnal and one diurnal, to be friends? Join Little Bat and Rusty as they discover how to stay connected–no matter what time of day it is.

Click HERE to place a hold request

Image credits:

Unless otherwise noted and/or linked, all images were designed during the making of this blog.