Latin name: Pteropus scapulatus
Type: mammal
Diet: omnivore
Average lifespan: Life span is believed to be up to 12 years in the wild
Size:about 1 m in wingspan
Weight: average 1kilogram in weight
Group name: Groups
Flying-foxes are mammals and are members of the Pteropididae or fruit bat family. Flying-foxes have the largest body size of all bats. Four species of Flying-foxes are native to mainland Australia: the Little Red Flying-fox, the Black Flying-fox, the Grey-headed Flying-fox and the Spectacled Flying-fox.
Flying Fox video.
What does a Flying Fox look like?
Flying-foxes have a grey like head, which looks a little like a fox's head. This is how they got their name. They have Dark coloured fur on their whole bodies and legs, down to their toes. They are about 25 cm long, with a leather wingspan that can be up to 1 meter wide. Bat wings and flying fox wings are made up of a two-layered, almost see through able flap of skin stretched between the lightweight bones of the hind limb, forelimb and tail. Flying-foxes have large eyes that give them vision. Flying-foxes have a well-developed vision so they can see at night. they also have a excellent sense of smell to locate food.
Where does the Flying Fox live?
Flying foxes inhabit temperate and sub-tropical coastal areas in northern and eastern Australia. Flying-foxes inhabit warm, moist habitats including gullies in lowland rainforest, coastal stringybark forests and mangroves, often beside water are favoured. Flying foxes can be found nesting in trees in forests and woodlands or in caves. Flying-foxes concentrate in large camps or roosts.
What does a Flying Fox eat?
Flying-foxes prefer blossom, flowers. nectar, fruit and occasionally leaves of native plants, particularly eucalypts, tea-trees, grevilleas, figs and lilly pillys. Sometimes flying-foxes are referred to fruit bats, they mainly eat pollen. They will also take the fruit of cultivated trees, particularly during periods of shortage of their preferred food. The flying-fox uses its strong teeth to crush the pollen and eat them.
Did you know about these Flying Fox facts?
Flying-foxes play a major role in the regeneration of native hardwood forests and rainforests by pollinating as they feed and dispersing seeds as they move throughout the forest.
It is estimated that a single Flying-fox can dispense up-to 60,000 seeds in one night.
Flying-foxes use the wind to travel long distances and have been recorded at speeds of 50 kilometres per hour although they average 25 - 30 kilometres per hour.
Average time for food to go from the bats mouth to rear end is 20 minutes. Bats are the only mammal to sustain flight.
During the day, thousands of bats can be seen in huge, noisy colonies amongst the treetops. When the dusk comes, their numbers fill the night sky as they fly in search of food, shrieking as they go.
Flying Fox images
Flying Fox Wallpapers
Download free Flying Fox wallpapers, click on the image to open the large version.
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Flying Fox Coloring pages
Print free Flying Fox coloring pages, click on the image to open the large version.
Flying-foxes are mammals and are members of the Pteropididae or fruit bat family. Flying-foxes have the largest body size of all bats. Four species of Flying-foxes are native to mainland Australia: the Little Red Flying-fox, the Black Flying-fox, the Grey-headed Flying-fox and the Spectacled Flying-fox.
