Flap Your Wings For The Best Bat Facts On Bat Appreciation Day

Today is International Bat Appreciation Day, which aims to raise awareness about the important role bats play in our ecosystems. So, we’ve picked our best bat facts to show our appreciation for these amazing creatures. Plus, learn how Stikins name labels help your family’s kit make it safely home to roost every day.

The Best Facts About Bats For Bat Appreciation Day

Bats play a really important role in ecosystems around the world. They pollinate plants, disperse seeds, and eat insects that damage crops. So, here are our best bat facts. Did you know:

• Bats are the only mammals that fly. They are more agile than most birds thanks to their flexible joints and thin articulated wings.
• Bats belong to a group called Chiroptera, from the Ancient Greek for hand and wing. Bat wings are a thin layer of skin stretched between four very long fingers and a thumb. The thumb (usually clawed) points forward and supports the leading edge of the wing, while the other digits support the wing membrane.
• Bats are the second most common group of mammals (after rodents). There are over 1,500 bat species, which means bats make up around 20% of all known mammal species.
• Bats species are either Megabats and Microbats (although not all megabats are bigger than microbats). Microbats rely on echolocation to navigate and find food (usually insects). Megabats have dog-like faces, smaller and simpler external ears, no tail, and feed on plant materials (fruit, nectar, and pollen).
• Some microbats eat frogs or fish, while the three species of vampire bat feed on blood (usually from cattle and horses).
• In a single night, some bats eat twice their body weight in fruit or more than their body weight in insects (up to 8,000).
• Hundreds of plants rely on bats for pollination or seed spreading, including agave, guava, coconuts, bananas, avocados, durian, mango, carob, cloves, figs, almonds, papayas, and cashews.
• Echolocation is a natural form of sonar that allows bats to “see” using sound. They produce sound waves from their nose or mouth that bounce off objects and return to them. These waves are above human hearing so we can’t hear them without special equipment. Some insects have evolved to detect these signals. In response, some bats have developed softer, quieter calls.
• All bats can see. Microbats have small eyes and mesopic or twilight vision (detect light in low-light conditions) and limited colour vision. Echolocation works best over short distances so they use their eyesight for orientation and traveling between their roosting and feeding grounds. Megabats have large eyes and keen eyesight; while they see less colours than humans, some can detect a range of colours and some can even see ultraviolet (UV) light.
• Microbats are also sensitive to Earth’s magnetic field, which lets them distinguish north and south.
• Most bats hang upside down by their feet to rest, which is known as roosting. Bats can’t launch into flight from a standing position like birds so they rely on gravity to drop straight into flight. Roosting up high also provides protection from predators and some bats even eat upside down.
• Most megabats roost with their head tucked into their belly, while most microbats roost with their neck curled towards their back. This is probably because their neck bones are structured differently.
• Bats may roost individually or in groups. The largest known roosting group lives in the Bracken Bat Cave in Texas, which is home to 15-20 million Mexican free-tailed bats.
• Most bats hibernate between November and May (others migrate to warmer areas) and often have two roosts – one for summer and one for winter.
• Bats usually have one baby per year called a pup. Baby bats can weigh up to 40% of their mother’s body weight.
• Dyak’s fruit bats are one of very few mammals where the male naturally feeds their young with milk from their own mammary glands.
• During flight, a bat’s heart rate can reach up to 1,000 beats per minute. The fastest species is the Mexican Free-Tailed Bat, which reaches up to 99 miles per hour.
• The smallest bat is the Kitt’s Hog-Nosed Bat, which grows to around 33mm long. The largest is the Giant Golden-Crowned Flying Fox, which reaches 450mm and has a wingspan of 1700mm (1.7m).

In the UK, all bats are protected under UK law. We have 18 species but around 80% of our bat population comes from just three species (the pipistrelles). You can find the following bat species in the UK:

• Alcathoe Bat – 34mm body/250mm wingspan
  Woodland bat with a short round snout, short ears, small feet and thumbs, and reddish-brown fur.
• Barbastelle – 55mm body/290mm wingspan
  Rare bat with a pug-like upturned nose, dark silky fur, and large wide ears.
• Bechstein's Bat – 53mm body/300mm wingspan
  Rare woodland bat with reddish brown fur, a pink face, and long broad ears.
• Brandt's Bat – 50mm body/240mm wingspan
  Small bat with slightly shaggy brown or grey fur, a pink face, and slim pointed ears.
• Brown Long-Eared Bat – 52mm body/285mm wingspan
  Medium bat with ears almost as long as the body and grey-brown fur.
• Common Pipistrelle – 45mm body/235mm wingspan
  75% of UK bats are common pipistrelles, which weigh less than a 50p coin!
• Daubenton's Bat – 55mm body/275mm wingspan
  Medium bat with large feet, brown fur, and a pink face. Known as the Water Bat thanks to its preferred habitats near water.
• Greater Horseshoe Bat – 71mm body/400mm wingspan
  Large bat with red-brown back and cream stomach, leaf-shaped ears, and a horseshoe-shaped nose.
• Grey Long-Eared Bat – 58mm body/300mm wingspan
• Very rare, medium bat with ears almost as long as the body. Larger and darker than Brown Long-Eared Bats.
• Leisler's Bat – 70mm body/320mm wingspan
  Also known as the Hairy-Armed Bat; has long golden-brown fur, which is thicker around the shoulders and upper back creating a mane-like appearance.
• Lesser Horseshoe Bat – 45mm body/250mm wingspan
  Small bat with greyish brown fur, a pink face, large triangular ears, and a horseshoe shaped nose.
• Nathusius' Pipistrelle – 55mm body/250mm wingspan
  The largest pipistrelle species; has longer, shaggier fur and a fluffier tail.
• Natterer's Bat – 50mm body/300mm wingspan
  Known as the Red-Armed Bat thanks to its pink limbs; has broad wings, a pink face, long and slightly curved ears, and a fringe of bristles on their tail membrane.
• Noctule – 82mm body/400mm wingspan
  Large bat with long narrow wings and broad brown ears with a mushroom-shaped tragus (skin flap in front of the ear canal).
• Serotine – 80mm body/380mm wingspan
  Larger bat with broad wings, big ears, and dark brown fur and face.
• Soprano Pipistrelle – 45mm body/230 wingspan
  Our most common and widespread species; very similar to Common Pipistrelles but has a paler face.
• Whiskered Bat – body 48mm, wings 240mm
  Small bat with long brown or grey fur and dark face and ears.
• Greater Mouse-Eared Bat – 80mm body/450mm wingspan
  Our largest and rarest species has sandy fur, a bare pink face, and large ears. The species was believed extinct as only one male was recorded in the UK between 2002-2022 before disappearing. In 2023, two new bats were discovered, which effectively doubling the population!

Make Sure Your Family (& Their Belongings) Make It Home To Roost With Stikins®

Our stick on name labels provide a quick and easy way to label all your family’s belongings. Name labels are a simple but effective way to make sure lost items can be returned. You can use a simple name for items in closed environments (like school or work) or add a piece of contact information for items that might be winging it further afield (a mobile number or short email works best).

We use a unique adhesive designed to make sure that your Stikins® simply stick on and stay on. You can use Stikins® to label fabric and non-fabric items, including clothing, school uniform, shoes, bags, lunch boxes, water bottles, and personal belongings.

You can personalise your labels with one or two lines of text with up to 18 characters per line (including spaces). We print our bright white labels with a bold durable black font that is clear and easy to read for all ages.

You can order online at any time or give us a call during office hours. Simply choose your personalisation and pack size, let us know your delivery address, and pay.