Wild kids

Common name: Grey-headed Flying-fox
Scientific name: Pteropus poliocephalus
Photo: K. Atkinson/Nature Focus, Australian Museum

Bats

Grey-headed Flying-fox

Grey-headed Flying-foxes are large bats that roost in leafy trees in eastern Australia. They often live in large groups of many thousands of animals. They are about 25 cm long with reddish coloured fur around their neck, a grey head and a brown body.

Flying-foxes roost in trees during the day.

Grey-headed Flying-foxes fly around at night using their eyes and sense of smell to search for fruit and flowers. They land in trees and crush fruit and flowers with their strong teeth. They swallow the juice and some fruit but spit out the seeds.

Females give birth to one live young in October or November each year. The young bats are born helpless but with some hair. For four months the young bats feed on milk from nipples located under their mother's armpits. Young bats hold onto the fur on their mother's belly while she searches for food at night until they are six weeks old.

The mothers then leave their young together in the trees while they look for food at night. Mothers return each night to feed their young until they are four months old. At this stage they start to follow the adults out each night and learn how to find their own food.