I've been seeing bats as I walk home through the park lately. Yesterday I followed them to see where they are going. Here is what I found...These particular bats eat pollen, nectar, and fruit - they are sometimes known as fruit bats. The tree they were landing in is a Moreton Bay Fig tree. You can see the fruits in the picture. The yellow ones are unripe, and the bat is eating a ripe one the color of a strawberry. Moreton Bay Figs are large trees and there were at least 50 bats in it. The fruit is edible and was part of the diet of the aborigines, but I couldn't reach any ripe fruit to try it myself.
The grey-headed flying fox is one of the largest bats in the world with a wingspan that can be in excess of a meter. They climb through the tree using their feet to hang and wings to reach and pull themselves. When it has the fruit, it holds it with one leg to the chest like this one is doing while eating it. They squabble in the tree as they eat and make quite a bit of noise. This bat is endangered so it was nice to see them in the park and get a few pictures...
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