Pteropus scapulatus

5 Little Red Flying Fox at Belconnen, ACT

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Identification history

Pteropus scapulatus	21 Jan 2020	MichaelMulvaney
Pteropus scapulatus	21 Jan 2020	MPennay
Pteropus poliocephalus	21 Jan 2020	MattM

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Significant sighting

MichaelMulvaney noted:

21 Jan 2020

Little red flying foxes are very occasional visitors to the region , the last record in the ACT was 23 years ago (1997). Our bat moderator Mike Pennay thinks that the bats are probably here for the flowering yellowbox and the drought /fires everywhere has deprived them of other food sources

User's notes

My parents stumbled across this roosting colony of 100+ bats in early January. They were concerned the colony may have taken damage from the hail, but I was unable to find any carcasses when I inspected today. The trees they were roosting in seemed to have taken very little damage from the hail. I am guessing these are grey-headed flying foxes? My parents should have more photos if they are required for ID.

4 comments

MPennay wrote:

21 Jan 2020

Hi - do you have more photos? Grey headed flying foxes are the main species that usually camp at Commonwealth Park - The bats in your photo seem very reddish brown and look like little red flying foxes but I cant tell if its just the washed out light in your photo or they really are red. The way they are clumped suggests little reds.

MPennay wrote:

22 Jan 2020

if they are little red flying foxes - its a very interesting observation as they dont come to Canberra regularly - but the yellowbox trees are flowering at the moment.

MattM wrote:

22 Jan 2020

I have uploaded more images that I took today. I tried to count them when I went back, and counted approximately 120 individuals. It's interesting to hear they haven't been recorded since 1997.

MPennay wrote:

22 Jan 2020

Thanks Matt, that's good. Can confirm they're little red flying foxes. Glad they're ok about 320 grey-headed flying foxes perished in the hail storm. It's a very interesting sighting. Thanks for reporting.

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Location information

Sighting information

120 Abundance
20 Jan 2020 04:29 PM Recorded on
MattM Recorded by
Collections
Significant sightings Mammals Flying Foxes & Other Megabats Bats

Species information

Pteropus scapulatus Scientific name
Little Red Flying Fox Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Machine learning
External link More information

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes