Almost all bats in Orange County eat insects.

Bats have good vision, but they locate prey by producing very high-pitched vocalizations and listening for the echoes (echolocation).

One rare visitor to the county eats nectar.

	COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME Leaf-nosed Bats Phyllostomidae Mexican long-tongued bat Choeronycteris mexicana Evening Bats Vespertilionidae California myotis Myotis californicus Small-footed myotis Myotis ciliolabrum Yuma myotis Myotis yumanensis Long-eared myotis Myotis evotis Western pipistrelle Parastrellus hesperus Big brown bat Eptesicus fuscus Western red bat Lasiurus blossevillii Hoary bat Lasiurus cinereus Western yellow bat Lasiurus xanthinus Townsend's big-eared bat Corynorhinus townsendii Pallid bat Antrozous pallidus Free-tailed bats Molossidae Mexican free-tailed bat Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana Pocketed free-tailed bat Nyctinomops femorosaccus Big free-tailed bat Nyctinomops macrotis Western mastiff bat Eumops perotis

OC Natural History	Orange County Wild	Starr Ranch Sanctuary

Mexican long-tongued bat	These nectar feeders are rare to OC, but important pollinators of cactae and agavae throughout their range. Look for hummingbird-like hovering over a white, aromatic, night-blooming flower or near a hummingbird feeder.
Western red bat	This solitary, foliage roosting species depends on intact riparian corridors (e.g. creek vegetation) for roosting and foraging.
Hoary bat	This amazing, long-distance migrant passes through Orange County from fall through spring, but by summer is gone. They used to be commonly encountered in the 1980s, but have declined significantly in the last decade. They require trees for roosting.
Big brown bat	This is one of the most abundant and widespread bats in North America. It is very flexible in what it eats and where it hunts and roosts. It is very common in undeveloped Orange County, but has declined substantially in urban areas of the county during the last decade.
California Myotis	Very little is known about this tiny, crevice-roosting bat. When I find them in Orange County, it's usually in oak and riparian woodland. Check out the Starr Ranch website to learn more about local habitat and wildlife.
Yuma Myotis	In urban Orange County, this bat is the most commonly encountered by humans. They hunt for small insects on the surface of water and readily use artificial reservoirs, lakes, etc. Look for them in these areas circling just over the water's surface.
Pallid bat	This is the only local bat that regularly hunts on or near the ground for large arthropod prey, such as katydids and centipedes. This one has captured a scorpion, to whose stings the bats appear to be immune.
Mexican free-tailed bat	This moth specialist will eat anything there's a lot of, including mosquitoes. They are very common all over Orange County, but are often targets of extermination efforts because their social nature makes them quite obvious when they roost in urban areas. Bat boxes and bridges can be good alternative roosts for bats that have lost their natural roost.

stremington@earthlink.net