Spotted Bat
With huge pink ears and white spots on its back, this is Colorado's rarest bat.
About This Species
Colorado's rarest bat is perhaps its most striking. The spotted bat has enormous pink ears and three large white spots on the black dorsal surface.
This species may be found in the major canyons along the western border of the state and southeastern Colorado. Its unique appearance should enable correct identification. Any sighting of the spotted bat should be reported to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Details of mortality are unknown, although known predators include kestrels and owls.
Living with Bats
There are 18 species of bat that call Colorado home. These amazing mammals are not only fantastic insect control, but are also valuable pollinators. Learn more about how humans and bats can live in harmony in our guide.
Bat Conservation
Bats remain one of the most mysterious land mammals, especially in Colorado, where 18 species spend at least part of the year. For example, the little brown bats in our state seem to hibernate differently than those on the east coast, and we are constantly learning about their whereabouts, habitats and behaviors. Our current research suggests that bat populations in Colorado are doing quite well.
One little brown bat can eat up to 18,000 small insects (like mosquitoes) each night. Their economic impact is estimated to be billions of dollars, and much of the agricultural industry relies on their insect control.
Beyond their economic impact, bats flaunt some impressive adaptations. They are the only mammal that truly flies, which requires a very unique anatomy. Their upside-down lifestyle requires adaptations in their “feet” to consistently grip. If people hanged upside down for even an hour, we’d lose consciousness; bats have developed amazing blood pressure accommodations to fit the lifestyle.
We are currently involved in a monitoring partnership called the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NA Bat). The program utilizes acoustic surveys to collect information on bat populations without interfering with their behaviors. We also are using PIT tags, like the chips put in household pets, to monitor a number of maternity sites. While data collection will take years, we’ve already learned new information about Colorado’s bat population, the most heartening of which is that the population appears larger and more widespread than we’d thought. This is an excellent start to learning more about the species, but we’ve got lots of problem-solving and technological innovation left to do.
Our priorities also include learning more about bats so that we are prepared for the potential spread of White-nose Syndrome. Finding and monitoring bats is crucial to this effort, but also comes with its own challenges. Because bats are small, flying mammals, much of the equipment used to track other species is too heavy for them. And during the winter, Colorado bats are very elusive, choosing to hibernate in small groups often in locations that are inaccessible to people.
More Information:
Physical Characteristics
Total length, 119 mm; length of forearm, 52 mm; weight, 13.5 g.
Range
This species is known from scattered localities in western North America and they may be one of the rarest bats in the United States but their ability to avoid standard capture methods suggests they are probably more common than once thought. In Colorado, the spotted bat is known from confirmed records along the canyons of the Western Slope, and acoustic/audible records suggest that the species uses canyon country beyond this area.
Habitat
The spotted bat has been found in a variety of habitats, including ponderosa pine, pinyon-juniper woodland and shrub desert. Early research suggested that this bat favored ponderosa pine forests, but more recent investigations show that the species uses areas tied closely to cliffs and water. The species appears mostly solitary, forming small nursery colonies or groups in hibernation. Little is known about hibernation or annual movement patterns.
Diet
The preferred food of spotted bats are moths. Apparently only the abdomens are eaten as the spotted bat has been observed to remove and discard wings and heads of captured prey. Other food items include beetles, katydids and grasshoppers. Foraging occurs throughout the night, in open habitat, 5-10 m above the ground. The echolocatory calls are audible to humans.
Reproduction
Little is known of the reproductive biology of this species. A single young is born, probably in late May or mid-June. One newborn weighed 4 g, 25 percent of the weight of its mother!