Brown flower bat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brown flower bat |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Erophylla
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| Species: |
bombifrons
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| Subspecies | |
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E.b. bombifrons |
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| Where it lives | |
The brown flower bat (Erophylla bombifrons) is a cool type of bat. It belongs to a family called Phyllostomidae. You can find this bat living on the island of Hispaniola, which includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It also lives in Puerto Rico.
Some scientists think the brown flower bat is actually a type of buffy flower bat. There are two main groups, or subspecies, of the brown flower bat. They are called Erophylla bombifrons bombifrons and E. b. santacristobalensis.
Where it Lives and How We Protect It
The brown flower bat is doing quite well! The IUCN Red List says it is a "Least Concern" species. This means there are lots of them, and they live in many places.
These bats often live in large groups. Sometimes thousands of them can be found roosting together. They like to hang out in the cooler parts of their cave homes.
Even though they are doing well, there are some things that can harm them. Problems with caves, like when people disturb them, can be a threat. Big storms like hurricanes can also affect their homes. Mining activities in their habitat can be a problem too. Luckily, many brown flower bats live in protected areas.
What it Eats and How it Behaves
The brown flower bat likes to start its dinner hunt a bit later than other bats. It usually begins looking for food when it's getting dark.
Its diet is a mix of different things. It enjoys eating fruit, sweet nectar from flowers, and insects. Scientists have studied what these bats eat. They found that most of them eat insects, nectar, and fruit. About half of the bats they studied had eaten all three during their last meal!
This bat loves to munch on certain fruits. It often eats the fruit from the Jamaican cherry tree. It also likes elderberry and turkey berry. For nectar, it visits flowers like the banana flower, guava, and wild tamarind.
See also
