Batty For Bats

April 30, 2026

Batty For Bats

Did you know that bats are the only mammal that truly fly? Well saddle up, we're about to learn a whole lot more about these gorgeous creatures.

Western Australia is an incredibly diverse place with our huge range of orchids, bees, plants, and bats are no exception. We have around 35 to 40 species of native bats.

These are divided into two sub-orders:

. Megabats

. Microbats

Microbats, of which there are around 30 species, hunt insects using echolocation, and tend to live in tree hollows, crevices in buildings and in caves.

Megabats use sight and smell to track down foods such as fruits, nectar, flowers.

The majority of our species are herbivores, meaning their diets consist of fruits, vegetables and seeds. But there are also:

. Nectarivores (eat nectar and pollen)

. Insectivores (eat insects)

Cool note: Worldwide there are also three hematophagus, blood eating bats, and usually it's that of birds and small rodents.

Common species found here in WA include:

. Goulds Wattled bat

. Southern Forest bat

. White-striped Freetail bat

. South-western Freetail bat

. Lesser Long-eared bat

. Chocolate Wattled bat

The anatomy of a bat is really fascinating. Although they are mammals, their limbs have been modified and perfected for flight. Their chest and shoulders have developed to be large and muscular, whilst having itty bitty hips.

Also, their wings are made of a thin membrane of skin stretched over bones and cartilage!

These cute little critters are vital for our biodiversity maintenance, and are extremely important for our ecosystems as they pollinate trees via flower to flower contact, offer seed dispersal via their poop, and provide insect control, as they cam consume millions of insects each night!

Like everything though, the bat population is slowly declining as we humans expand and habitats are destroyed. But there are plenty of things we can do to help these tiny fluffy flying muffins!

Firstly plant and leave native trees and fruit trees in your garden. This provides places for bats to roost as well as food sources. Also consider leaving that old dead tree in your yard, this could be someone's home, probably more than one someone, and by removing it, your removing that safe place to shelter.

Bat boxes are also an easy thing you can do to help, especially our microbats. You can either buy or build one and install it in a tree. You can visit Ausbats.org for more information and plans for building your own bat boxes!