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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