Sunday, March 15, 2015

Creature Feature #512: Noctule

The Noctule are a Genus of vesper bats, found across Europe, Asia and North Africa. There are eight species, ranging in size from the tiny Lesser Noctule at 5 cm to the Greater Noctule, who can grow over 10 cm in length. Like many bats, Noctule are nocturnal and rely on ecolocation to navigate the tree tops. Here they hunt and swoop, catching beetles and insects on the wing. The Greater Noctule, however, seeks larger prey. He regularly preys on birds, snatching them from the air. Being nocturnal, he targets night-flying migrating birds. His voice is pitched to a frequency higher than the birds can hear, allowing him to pinpoint them with deadly accuracy.

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