| Brown long-eared bat - Plecotus auritus - Family: Vespertilionidae
 Brown long-eared bat - Plecotus auritus© Hugh Clark (Avico Ltd)Easiest to distinguish of all the British species because of its very long ears, this is a medium-sized bat with light brown fur on the upper parts and paler fur underneath. Brown long-eared bats live in woodlands, parks and orchards, often roosting in trees and buildings. This species often uses the same roost site throughout the year. Summer nursery colonies are usually in large lofts or barns with large spaces in which they can fly about inside, warming up before they come out to feed. They emerge in the dark and fly slowly and erratically around trees and sometimes close to the ground, hunting moths and caterpillars. They will often take their prey directly from vegetation as well as catching insects in mid-air like other bat species. They hibernate, usually singly, from October to March. FoodMoths (especially Noctuids), cranefly, caddis, beetles (especially scarab), Diptera, spiders. PreyBeetles, Moths, Sawflies, September cranefly, Spiders and harvestmen, Water invertebrates |
