Atlas der Säugetiere Nordrhein-Westfalens

Zweifarbfledermaus

343 entries

Parti-coloured bat

Rote Liste NRW:

  entry

Vespertilio murinus

This attractive, medium-sized bat has a mottled grey back and a white chest contrast with a black face, and it has round ears. While maternity colonies of the Particoloured Bat can also be in houses in rural areas, especially in autumn and winter, many Particoloured Bats like to stay around large buildings and thus in cities — places which apparently resemble their original need of rocks during these seasons.

Thus, it is not surprising that a significant part of the species′ records in NRW was made in tall buildings. With some luck and a bit of patience, Particoloured Bat males can be observed and heard during their mating flights around tall illuminated buildings, such as large churches. It is likely that the majority of Particoloured Bats in NRW are animals who are migrating through or which flew in from Eastern Europe for overwintering since the solid area with nursery colonies of the Particoloured Bat starts only in the north-eastern federal states. This does not exclude that males spend the summer in NRW even in small colonies or that in exceptional cases one or several females raise their young in Western Germany. A significant part of the species′ records in NRW was taken in the winter months and refers to animals which, for example by a cold-spell, may be prompted to seek out a new and sometimes unsuitable hiding place in a building.
Particoloured Bats have been increasingly observed in the recent three decades, whereby the number of annual record varies greatly. In the winter of 2005/06, at least 19 animals were reported, while in the following winter, there were only four.

Author

Henning Vierhaus

Citation

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