Northern Blossom Bat

Family: Pteropodidae
Scientific name: Macroglossus minimus

Where they roost:
They hang in palms, bamboos, mangroves, and trees in monsoon forests and rainforests. They roost alone or in small groups under loose bark, within hollows or among leafy crowns and leaf bases.

What they eat:
Mainly nectar and pollen from the flowers of eucalypts, paperbarks, bottlebrushes, lilli pillies and mangrove trees. In northeastern Queensland they also eat fruit and possibly leaves.

Conservation threats:
Vulnerable to loss of feeding areas from clearing of native vegetation and land degradation from agriculture.

Other information:
They are important pollinators of many native Australian plants. In northeastern Queensland they also appear to pollinate commercially grown durian tees.

Photo © R&A Williams/Nature Focus