WHISKERED BAT Myotis mysticanus

 

Status: Native; Local

 

Habitats: Woodland; River/Lake; Parkland

 

A small to medium sized bat, with somewhat shaggy, untidy dark fur on the upper side, and a greyish white ventral surface.  This species is very difficult to separate from Brandt’s bat Myotis brandtii, from which it was not separated until 1971.  It has a typically dark face and ears, the ears being pointed, with a long taper-like tragus.

 

This species feeds mainly in and around woodland, particularly along wooded rivers and mature hedgerows.  However, it is also found in mature gardens and parkland, as well as over areas of scrub.  It is a manoeuvrable species, often gleaning its prey from the surface of vegetation, aided by its relatively broad, characteristically pointed wings.  Whiskered bats are often said to have a weaving, agile somewhat fluttery flight, typically ‘hugging’ the edge of vegetation, and not straying far from cover.  They can also feed amongst the crowns of trees, but seldom high in the open.

 

Whiskered bats tend to emerge from their roosts shortly after dusk, appreciably earlier than Natterer’s and Daubenton’s bats.  Summer and nursery roost may comprise churches, and the lofts of modern and old buildings, where they often group under the ridge tiles.  Gaps between beams, masonry, weather boards and behind window frames are all used regularly, the bats tending to hang-free.  During the winter they tend to hibernate in cool cellars, tunnels, mines and occasionally in hollow trees.

 

Nursery roosts comprise almost exclusively of females, and may number 100 or so individuals. 

 

Whiskered bats are found throughout Britain, however they are scarce or absent from northern parts of Scotland.  The British population is estimated to be around 40,000 animals. 

 

This species sounds very similar to other Myotis bats on a bat detector, having a steep FM sweep (peak frequency of around 45 KHz).  However, it sounds less rhythmical than the Daubenton’s bat.

 

In common with Natterer’s and Daubenton’s bats, the Whiskered bat is a species which partakes in ‘autumn swarming’, where large numbers of bats gather  (normally at cave or tunnel systems) to mate and socialise.