Atlas der Säugetiere Nordrhein-Westfalens

Kleiner Abendsegler

1119 entries

Lesser noctule

Rote Liste NRW: V Vorwarnliste

  entry

Nyctalus leisleri

The Lesser Noctule is a mid-sized bat with a head-and-body length of maximally 6.5 cm and a wingspan of 26 — 34 cm. The animals are an even middle-brown, the ventral side being slightly lighter than the back. The species is distinguished from the Common Noctule mainly by its smaller body size, with a forearm length of less than 47 mm (Common Noctule over 47 mm).

First discovered in the year 1983, this species also occurs in Westphalia. There were already observations of the Lesser Noctule from the Rhineland. The Lesser Noctule lives in landscapes with a high proportion of forest. Preferred roosts are large tree cavities, mainly in deciduous trees. When such structures are missing, the mortises in wooden power masts or crevices on buildings are used. The animals prefer to hunt for flying insects in forests and along forest edges. During the hunt over open areas and water bodies, a distinction from the Common Noctule is possible by means of a bat detector; in more structured areas the two noctule species and the Serotine Bat frequently cannot de distinguished. Through the use of acoustic lures during the capture of bats in recent years, an increasing number of records of the species could be obtained. Overall, the area of distribution of this species seems to have expanded during recent years and the population seems to have grown. Animals living in NRW during the summer, fly to southwest Europe (Spain) for the overwintering period. As a migrating bat, the Lesser Noctule is seriously threatened by collisions with wind power plants.

Author

Holger Meinig

Citation

Meinig H (2024): Kleiner_Abendsegler (Nyctalus_leisleri).In: AG Säugetierkunde NRW — Online-Atlas of the mammals of North Rhine-Westphalia. Downloaded from saeugeratlas-nrw.lwl.org on 2024/12/21