Natterer's Bat

• It hunts motionless prey: it picks resting daytime insects off foliage and off the ground, flying very close to the vegetation, instead of catching them in the air.
• Breeding groups change roost as often as twice a week.
• It is hard to count because it hides in very deep crevices: in one roost where no more than three individuals had ever been seen, a gas leak in 1989 killed 306.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)

Habitat and environment

Humid deciduous and coniferous woodland, and urban settings, up to about 2,000 m. In summer it roosts in tree holes, buildings and bat boxes; in winter it hibernates in caves, tunnels, mines and cellars, almost always tucked into crevices

Litter / clutch size

A single young a year. The females form breeding colonies of 20 to 80 individuals from April or May on

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List; SECEM - Atlas de los mamíferos terrestres de España; Juste et al. 2018, Acta Chiropterologica 20(2); Dietz y Kiefer 2016, Bats of Britain and Europe; Enciclopedia Virtual de los Vertebrados Españoles (MNCN-CSIC)

Best time: From spring to autumn, outside the hibernation period