... and how is it
different from the bats that aren't called flying
foxes?
Well, it's not really a fox that flies. It is a kind of bat
- the two groups
are related and belong to the same family.
The difference you notice first is that flying
foxes are much larger (and therefore also called megabats)
than
other bats, that belong to the suborder of microbats.
But there are many other differences.
Flying foxes have
large eyes
compared to other bats, and that is because they don't use echolocation for
navigation
as do other bats. Flying foxes use eyesight, that's why they have the
big eyes.
While other bats are mostly insect eaters, flying foxes eat fruit and nectar,
which is why they are also called fruit bats.
While other bats mostly roost in caves, flying foxes roost up in trees.
They migrate daily
between their
feeding and roosting sites, and those migrations can be
seen at
dusk and dawn when the skies become literally full of them in places.
They live in large colonies and are known to have complex communication
which means they are
very smart
animals.
They are only found in
the tropical
regions of Africa, India, south-east Asia and Australia,
while
other bats are found everywhere except in the polar regions.
Australia
has four species,
and Cape York has three of them - the grey
headed species is the only one not found here.
Little
Red Flying Fox
bat is the smallest and the most common one, it's found in almost all
the coastal areas except those in southern Australia, and it covers the
whole Cape York peninsula.
Black
Flying Fox
is the largest
one, and it is found in the coastal Northern Territory, northern
Western Australia and northern Queensland, including the Cape York
peninsula, except the
inland south of it.
Spectacled
Flying Fox
bat is
the rarest one, it is only found in pockets on the eastern Cape York
peninsula and in the coastal Papua New Guinea.
Little Red
Flying Fox
The
little red flying fox Pteropus
scapulatus
is the most common flying fox bat in Australia. It is found all the way
from eastern Victoria to western Kimberley region, and the whole Cape
York peninsula.
It is also the smallest of the Australian
megabats, usually not weighing more than half a kilo. Its colour can
vary between reddish and brown, with grey patches on the top of the
head and shoulders.
It mainly eats eucalypt flowers and is an
important pollinator of them, but will lso eat fruit when blossoms are
not available. It is nomadic, and on a daily basis it is migratory,
shuttling between eating and roosting sites. At dusk and dawn huge
groups cover the sky where they migrate.
They
breed at a different time
from other bats, mating in November to January, with youg born in
April-May.
They also differ from the
other species because of how they hang in clumps of up to 20 bats. That
causes some tree damage, and that combined with their large numbers and
exaggerated diseases makes them unpopular animals.
It lives in
many different habitats from temperate to tropical eucalypt woodland to
moonsoon forests. The animal was first described by Peters in 1862 and
the first individual was collected on Cape York peninsula.
Their main threats are habitat loss and powerlines. They are hard to
track and count, but they
are not considered
threatened animals.
Black
Flying Fox
The black
flying fox, Pteropus
alecto,
is larger than the little red, and is the largest one in Australia and
one of the largest bats in the world with weight up to one kilo and a
wingspan of more than a metre.
It is often black but can also vary to brown in colour, particularly on
the face.
Its range
in Australia is
smaller and more northern than this of the little red flying fox bat,
and
it is also found in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. It lives in many
different habitats including the tropical woodlands in Cape York.
Like
the little red flying fox bat they love to eat eucalypt pollen, and
when
that is not available they eat other things including fruit - annoying
farmers. Like other flying foxes it is also blamed as a virus carrier,
which is exaggerated.
The biggest threats are habitat loss, farmers who kill them, and power
lines. They are not considered threatened.
Spectacled
Flying Fox
As
opposed to the black and little red, the spectacled flying fox Pteropus conspicillatus
has a very small range. It is also found in coastal PNG and Indonesia,
but in Australia it is found in coastal north Queensland north of
Mission Beach and including the coastal Cape York peninsula.
They
are fairly large megabats, and like the black flying fox can weigh up
to a kilo. It is dark brown in colour, except the beige or yellowish
light brown patches on the face and around the neck and
shoulders.
They can
be found in
different habitats such as mangroves, riparian forest, and eucalypt
forests and woodlands, but always close to a rainforest, and the best
habitat where they like to live is the rainforest itself.
Like
the other megabats on this page they eat eucalypt flowers, but more
than the other two the spectacled flying fox eats fruits - of the
rainforest, making them important rainforest pollinators and seed
spreaders.
Their mating season is the Wet Season, and the young is born during the
hottest months in the end of the year.
Their
biggest threats are habitat destruction, paralysis ticks, feral cats
and power lines. The species was a threatened species in the 1900s, but
is now 'least concerned'.
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This complete 300 pages
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detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
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This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.