Mammals of the WorldLeisler's Noctule
Nyctalus leisleri
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Family
- Vespertilionidae
- Genus
- Nyctalus
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- Morocco|Algeria|Canary Islands|Madeira|Ireland|United Kingdom|Portugal|Spain|France|Luxembourg|Belgium|Netherlands|Germany|Sweden|Switzerland|Liechtenstein|Italy|Austria|Slovenia|Czech Republic|Poland|Hungary|Slovakia|Croatia|Bosnia and Herzegovina|Serbia|Kosovo|Albania|Montenegro|North Macedonia|Greece|Bulgaria|Romania|Moldova|Ukraine|Belarus|Lithuania|Latvia|Russia|Kazakhstan?|Turkey|Cyprus|Georgia|Armenia|Azerbaijan|Iran|Afghanistan|Pakistan|India|China?
- Realm
- Palearctic
Other names: Leisler's Bat|Lesser Noctule
About this species
- Size
- Head and body 48–68mm; forearm 38–47mm; wingspan 260–330mm
- Weight
- 11–20g
- Diet
- Flying insects such as moths and beetles
- Habitat
- Coniferous and deciduous forest, parkland and urban areas; roosts in buildings
- Range
- Europe and western Asia, east as far as the Urals and Himalaya
- Litter size
- 1–2 young; twins more common in the east
The lesser noctule, or Leisler's bat, is an insectivorous vesper bat with a head and body of 48–68 mm, a forearm of 38–47 mm, a wingspan of 260–330 mm and a weight of 11–20 g. The face, ears and wings are dark, the fur is brown and darker at the base than the tip, and the ears are short and rounded with a mushroom-shaped tragus (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is found locally across Europe and western Asia, east as far as the Urals and the Himalaya. It is typically in coniferous and deciduous forest but has adapted to parkland and urban areas and often roosts in buildings. It emerges soon after sunset to feed on flying insects such as moths and beetles, sometimes around streetlights, and travels up to 10 km while foraging. Breeding colonies are usually 20–50 animals. The cached account gives nothing specific to India (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)