Miniopterus orianae oceanensis
10 Eastern Bent-wing, Large Bent-wing Bat at Kambah, ACT
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| Miniopterus orianae oceanensis | 27 Mar 2026 | MPennay | ||
| Miniopterus orianae oceanensis | 26 Mar 2026 | regeraghty |
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User's notes
These appear to be Common Bentwing Bats Miniopteris schreibersii, which are found in the ACT according to one reference book. Possibly Eastern Bent-winged Bat Miniopteris orianae. The same book says that the Little Bentwing isn't found in the ACT but is listed here.
5 comments
27 Mar 2026
Have you known about this colony for some time and been able to watch them leave at dusk for food foraging? It must be a sight seeing that many leaving all at once. Thank you for some wonderful photos.
27 Mar 2026
@MPennay have you seen this? If this is the only roost of this species or one of few, is it worth checking how well they are protected from exotic predators, human disturbance or effects of maintenance work? Is it worth informing ACT Roads?
27 Mar 2026
That's an outdated reference book. Miniopterus schreibersii is restricted to Eurasia. The local species is Miniopterus orianae oceanensis.
This isn't a breeding congregation, or colony it's bats dispersing and migrating from Wee Jasper at the end of the breeding season. There are about 30,000 on the move at the moment
This isn't a breeding congregation, or colony it's bats dispersing and migrating from Wee Jasper at the end of the breeding season. There are about 30,000 on the move at the moment
30 Mar 2026
@maura To Maura - no, this is the first time I've seen them, and from what is stated elsewhere, they are just roosting temporarily on their way to the coast. It was very dark by the time they started to leave, and they didn't leave all at once. It was fascinating to see all the same. I've only seen a small roost like this before in an old train tunnel in Queensland. I have seen a large colony going out to feed at Mammoth Cave in the USA, where there's thousands of microbats all flying out of the natural entrance of the cave in the evening. Another spot in Queensland is Mt Etna near Rockhampton where there's a large breeding colony of microbats, as well as endangered Ghost Bats. I've added another sighting from the following night.
Location information
- Places Kambah, ACT
Sighting information
- 300 Abundance
- regeraghty Recorded by
Collections
- regeraghty NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Miniopterus orianae oceanensis Featured NSW Government Priority Species Microbats Bats Mammals
Species information
- Miniopterus orianae oceanensis Scientific name
- Eastern Bent-wing, Large Bent-wing Bat Common name
- Sensitive
- Vulnerable *
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 733.61m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
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Synonyms
Miniopterus schreibersii Miniopterus schreibersii oceanensis Miniopterus schreibersii subsp. oceanensis
Record quality
Quality score
5 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- Description
- GPS evidence of location
- Additional attributes