Bats By Missael M. Class 4-314

Driving Question: KINDS of FOODS DO BATS CONSUME?

Table of Content What Is a Bat? poem Kinds of Bats Homes Bats as Carnivores Bats as Herbivores

What Is a Bat? poem A bat is… best and only mammal that flies… a mammal that hangs upside-down from its fingertips… that eats at night with its echolocation.

All Kinds of Bats

Homes for Bats Bats live in trees and caves, but humans have been using these places, so bats have had to find new places to live. Pipistrelle and Serotines choose buildings like houses and factories if they cannot find a home in the wild.

Bats Are Carnivores and Eat…. other animals.

Insects The majority of insectivorous bats hunt their prey by chasing it down while flying. These insects are detected by the bats echolocation.

Blood Probably the most famous bat in the world is the Vampire bat which lives in Central and South America. There are 3 species of Vampire, the Common, the Hairy legged and the White- winged. The Common Vampire feeds mainly on mammal blood. The other two specialize in feeding on the blood of birds.

Fish Fisherman bats fly low over rivers and ponds 'looking' for vibrations on the surface. As they get close to the food, the bat drop their feet into the water and feel for the fish. Fisherman Bats have adapted to this method of feeding by having very big feet, long toes and sharp toe nails

Bats and Mammals Some bats eat other bats by catching them as they fly around doing their own thing. Mammals, like mice and small rats, are the favorite food for some bats. These bats have become very agile on the ground and can run after their prey.

Frogs Frog-eating bats hang from branches that overhang ponds and slow running streams. They listen for frogs croaking and find them. These bats can even tell edible frogs from the poisonous ones.

Bats Are Herbivores and Eat... Plant Parts.

Nectar The Australian Southern Blossom Bat, the smallest fruit bat at only 3 inches, comes to flowers at night, to drink nectar. The plants that bats go to, only release their nectar at night with a strong scent for them to home in on. Nectar feeding bats have very long tongues to enable them to drink deep inside flowers.

Pollen This group of bats is important for pollinating many of the fruits we eat. Mangoes and bananas flowers are two of the fruits bats can pollinate. Pollen bats have tongues that are adapted to feeding on pollen by having 'brushes' to collect the grains.

Fruit Fruit bats help in the re-growth of fruit trees. These bats let go of large amounts of seeds in their droppings as they fly away from trees that have ripe fruit. At one time, fruit farmers thought that fruit bats only ate ripe fruit -but recent studies have shown that bats eat more over ripe fruit.

Bibliography Bats- TIME For Kids / bat.htmll/ bat.htmll