South Eastern Freetail Bat

Family: Molossidae
Scientific name: Mormopterus sp. (unnamed by science)

Where they roost:
Tree hollows and the roofs of houses. Colonies of up to 150 have been reported. They choose roosts with very narrow entrances and cavities, which are not much larger than themselves.

What they eat:
In Victoria, they have been recorded as eating bugs, beetles, ants and moths. The forage in the spaces between trees, at the outer edge of remnant vegetation and above the forest canopy. They also forage on the ground where they are quite agile.

Conservation threats:
Vulnerable to loss of tree hollows and loss of feeding grounds by extensive clearing for agriculture and land degradation.

Other information:
When south eastern mastiff bats have been radio-tracked they have been found to forage up to 12 kilometres from their roosts.

Photo © P German/Nature Focus