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Animal profile

Big Brown Bat

Eptesicus fuscus

MammaliaAlmost every North American habitat below the treeline; roosts in buildings, barns, bat houses, tree cavities and rock crevicesLeast Concern

Field profile

The big brown bat is a robust, broad-winged insectivore weighing 15 to 25 grams, and one of the most familiar bats in North American buildings. It specialises in hard-shelled beetles, which its powerful jaw can crush. It hibernates in relatively cold, dry sites and tolerates conditions that suit few other species.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2023-04-09

Big Brown Bat

Hunting bats call two hundred times a second

As a big brown bat closes on an insect, its echolocation rate climbs from about ten calls a second to roughly two hundred. The resulting feeding buzz updates the target's position almost continuously in the last fraction of a second.

Read with evidence →

Big Brown Bat | Daily Animal Facts