Schreiber's bent-winged bat
Miniopterus schreibersii
Arvidas Merkelis · Imereti
Key facts in one look
- Size
- 8–11 g, body 52–63 mm
- Diet
- Insectivore
- Status in Georgia
- Native, cave colonies
- Habitat
- Caves, mines, wooded foothills
- Family
- Miniopteridae
- Conservation
- VU / VU
Schreiber's bent-winged bat (Miniopterus schreibersii) is one of the fastest bats: it flies at 70 km/h. It is named after the long third finger of its wing, which it folds back at rest. It spends the day in caves and mines, often alongside thousands of other bats. In Georgia it is known from west to east, from the caves around Kutaisi to Davit Gareja. It does not attack people, but never touch it with bare hands and do not disturb its colony in a cave.
Identification
Schreiber's bent-winged bat: how to identify it
A small, slender bat weighing 8–11 g. What you notice first is the high, domed forehead and short snout. The ears are short, triangular and set wide apart. The wings are long and narrow, which gives it a fast, swallow-like silhouette in flight.
The body is 52–63 mm long, the tail 50–60 mm, the forearm 42–48 mm, and it weighs 8–11 g. The tail is fully enclosed in the wing membrane and is long compared with other bats of its size.
The head is small, with a high, domed forehead and a short snout. The hair on the crown stands upright. The short, triangular ears are set wide apart, and a small tragus is visible inside them.
The second bone of the third finger is about three times as long as the first. When the bat hangs by its hind feet, it folds the tip of this finger back along the wing. This bent wing tip gave the species its English name.
The back ranges from grey-brown to dark grey, sometimes with a yellowish-brown tinge. The body fur stands up rather than lying flat. Bats are hard to tell apart by colour, so do not pick one up to check.
Colour
The back ranges from grey-brown to dark grey, and some animals have a yellowish-brown tinge. The belly is paler than the back.
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
Schreiber's bent-winged bat lives underground: in karst caves, mines, tunnels, cellars and ruins. It occurs mainly in foothill and mountain landscapes up to 2,200 m and favours areas rich in broadleaf forest. It winters in large underground spaces with stable temperature and humidity. In Georgia it has been found in caves in Imereti (Tskaltsitela near Kutaisi, Samertskhle Klde near Kvemo Zodi), in the Tsutskhvati caves, near Shiomghvime, Mtskheta, Gori and Akhaltsikhe, in the Davit Gareja cave complex, near Gremi, in Kolkheti and near Zugdidi. It is also known from caves in Abkhazia and in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti.
Schreiber's bent-winged bat eats insects, and its main prey is moths. It also takes beetles, flies, caterpillars and even spiders. It hunts in the air with fast, agile flight, usually 10–20 m above the ground, and finds prey by echolocation. It flies tens of kilometres from its roost to feed.
It is a night bat: it leaves the roost right after sunset, hunts for most of the night and returns to the cave in the morning. It is highly colonial: summer colonies hold hundreds or thousands of animals, and nursery colonies of more than 100,000 are known worldwide. The bats cluster tightly in bell-shaped hollows in the ceiling, which hold the heat. It migrates several times a year, depending on the weather. Summer and winter roosts are usually 40–100 km apart, and the longest known movement is 833 km. Winter roosts are sometimes hundreds of kilometres from summer ones. Mating takes place in autumn. The fertilised egg does not implant in the womb straight away, so pregnancy lasts about six months. The female gives birth to a single young in May–July. The young are left together in a group within the colony. It lives up to 12 years.
Globally Schreiber's bent-winged bat is Vulnerable (VU, 2023). In Georgia the 2021 national assessment also rates it Vulnerable (VU), and its numbers are falling. The main threats are the loss and disturbance of underground roosts, pesticides and habitat loss. In the Caucasus, tourism in caves is a problem. Mass die-offs of bent-winged bats have also been recorded in Europe, and their cause is still unknown. Because this bat gathers in a few large caves, destroying one roost affects thousands of animals.
Arvidas Merkelis · Dmitry Ivanov · Serge Gorin · Yves Bas · Ruggieri Antonio
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Yes. It is known from both western and eastern Georgia, mostly from caves. It has been found in the caves around Kutaisi, near Shiomghvime, Mtskheta, Gori and Akhaltsikhe, at Davit Gareja and near Gremi. It is also known from caves in Abkhazia.
Underground: in karst caves, mines, tunnels, cellars and ruins. It hangs in tight clusters in hollows in the ceiling, which hold the heat. It also winters in large underground spaces where the temperature stays stable.
It is a small bat of 8–11 g with a high, domed forehead, a short snout and short, triangular ears. The wings are long and narrow, and at rest it folds the tip of the third finger back. Telling bats apart reliably is often a job for a specialist, so do not pick one up.
Insects, above all moths. It also eats beetles, flies, caterpillars and spiders. It hunts in the air, usually 10–20 m up, and finds its prey by echolocation.
Not if you leave it alone. It does not attack people. But any bat can transmit rabies, and its bite is easy to miss. So do not touch it with bare hands. After a bite or scratch, wash the spot with soap and water and see a doctor; in an emergency, call 112.
Watch from a distance and leave soon. This bat is very sensitive to disturbance, and noise, light and frequent visitors drive it out of caves. In places, colonies of thousands have already disappeared.
Yes. Globally it is Vulnerable (VU, 2023), in Georgia the 2021 national assessment also rates it Vulnerable (VU), and its numbers are falling. The main threats are disturbance in caves, loss of roosts and pesticides.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
