Help Baby Bats Take Flight!

This is one of very few times that we have three of the five species of Austraian flying foxes in one place! We are in our last round of adult and juvenile flying foxes to be released before winter from the flight aviary in Lane Cove National Park. There are around 30 bats in the cage including one Black Flying Fox and three Little red Flying Foxes. The rest are Grey-headed Flying Foxes. It is amazing and rare to see these three species together in one place. The remaining species are Spectacle Flying Foxes and Christmas Island Flying Foxes.

Little Red Flying Foxes tend to roost with their own kind while Grey-headed and Black Flying Foxes sometimes roost together. Little Reds seem to travel the furthest from Central Queensland to NSW. These aren't the first Little Reds we have had in care in but they do show up in and around Sydney. Like their name describes, their colour tends to be a burnt red hue from top to bottom. I don't believe there is a permenant roost within Sydney but sometimes small groups of Little Reds show up around the Paramatta Camp. Little Reds are the smallest of the five species and tend to weigh 300g-600g. The Little Red tends to eat necter and pollen from the eucalypt and melaleuca blossoms.

Black Flying Foxes are the largest of the species on the mainland and can grow to a weight of 1,000g. Like their name implies, they are black from top to bottom and many carers claim, "they smell like cinnamon." They are fiercely independent as pups and "tend to raise themselves" while teaching carers how to take care of them.Their lower legs are unfurred while the Greys are furred the entire length of the leg.

We will do a catch-up of this group on Good Friday and open the hatch for the last release of the season. This season was very mild but what an exciting way to end it being able to see three different species of Australian flying foxes in one avieary!