Brown long-eared bat
Plecotus auritus
Óscar Sampedro · Lugo
Key facts in one look
- Diet
- Insectivore: moths, beetles, spiders
- Status in Georgia
- Native, widespread
- Size
- 6–12 g, wingspan 23–28.5 cm, ears 3.3–3.9 cm
- Habitat
- Woodland, orchards, old buildings; caves in winter
- Family
- Vespertilionidae
- Conservation
- LC / LC
The brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) is a small bat with huge ears: they are 3.3–3.9 cm long, almost the length of its whole body. Its hearing is so sharp that it can hear a ladybird walking on a leaf. So it often finds insects without echolocation, simply by listening, and picks them off leaves and bark. In Georgia it is widespread: it is known from Tbilisi, Gori, Borjomi, Bakuriani, Kutaisi, Lagodekhi and the Kazbegi area. It looks very much like the mountain long-eared bat, which is paler and has an almost white belly. It often lives in old buildings and attics, so if you meet one, do not touch it with bare hands.
Identification
Brown long-eared bat: how to identify it
A small bat with very long ears. At rest it lowers its ears: they are curled back like rams' horns or tucked under the wings, and then only the pointed tragus shows. The eyes are fairly large, and the fur is long, silky and brown above. The mountain long-eared bat looks similar.
The ears are the main feature: 3.3–3.9 cm long, almost the length of the body. In flight the ears are raised and point forward. At rest it curls them back like rams' horns or tucks them under its wings, and then it looks like an ordinary bat. All long-eared bats have ears like these.
Size: the body is 3.7–5.2 cm long, the forearm 34–42 mm, the wingspan 23–28.5 cm and the weight 6–12 g. Females are slightly larger than males. The thumb is longer than 6.2 mm, and the greatest width of the tragus is less than 5.5 mm. Specialists measure these features; do not catch a bat to do it.
The mountain long-eared bat is paler, silvery grey, with an almost white belly, a dark brown face and a pink triangular pad on the chin. The brown long-eared bat is brown above, with a paler but not white belly. Young brown long-eared bats are greyish, so colour does not always separate them reliably.
Its echolocation calls are very quiet, which is why it is called the 'whispering bat'. The calls lie at 25–50 kHz, loudest at about 35 kHz, and on a bat detector they sound like the clicks of a Geiger counter.
Colour
Adults have light brown, long, silky fur, with a paler, greyish-brown belly. Young bats are greyish. The ears and wing membranes are light brownish.
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
The brown long-eared bat lives in woodland and the countryside. It hunts in open deciduous and coniferous woodland, parks and orchards. In summer it lives in old buildings, barns, churches, attics, tree hollows and under loose bark. It spends the winter in caves, tunnels, mines and other underground structures. In Georgia it is widespread, in both west and east. It has been found in Tbilisi, Rustavi and Gardabani, Gori and Surami, Borjomi and Bakuriani, Kutaisi, Zugdidi and Khobi, Merisi in Adjara, Dusheti, the Kazbegi area, Kobi, Lagodekhi and Abkhazia. It also lives in caves, for example Sveri Kvabkari and Letsurtsume Cave, and counts as a partly cave-dwelling bat. Records span 1878–2021.
The brown long-eared bat eats mainly moths, as well as beetles, flies, earwigs and spiders. It flies slowly among leaves, hovers and takes insects from leaves or bark, sometimes landing on the ground. It often finds prey by listening, and sometimes by sight, rather than by echolocation. Small insects are eaten in flight, while larger ones are carried to a regular 'feeding perch' in a barn or porch. Such a place is easy to recognise by the moth wings dropped below it.
The brown long-eared bat leaves its roost late, about an hour after sunset, when it is already dark. In summer it forms small, quiet colonies, usually of 10–20, sometimes up to 50 bats. Unlike in other bats, males are often present in the nursery colonies. For hibernation it chooses very cold places, often just above freezing. Mating takes place in autumn, and active males keep seeking out females all winter. The female delays fertilisation until spring, late April or May. A single young, rarely two, is born between late June and mid-July. The young becomes independent at 6 weeks. Females mature at 1 year and males at 15 months. It lives up to 30 years.
Globally the brown long-eared bat is rated Least Concern (LC, 2023). In Georgia the 2021 national assessment also rates it Least Concern (LC), with a stable population. Over most of Europe it is a common and widespread species. Its threats are changes in land use, intensive farming and the conversion of old barns, which reduce its feeding and roosting places. It is especially sensitive to pesticides, because it often rests on exposed attic timbers that are treated with chemicals.
Related guides
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Yes, and it is widespread. Data from 1835–2022 hold 60 records. It has been found in Tbilisi, Gori, Borjomi and Bakuriani, Kutaisi, Zugdidi, Dusheti, the Kazbegi area, Lagodekhi and Abkhazia, as well as in caves. In summer it often lives in old buildings and attics.
Mainly by colour. The brown long-eared bat is light brown above, with a paler but not white belly. The mountain long-eared bat is pale grey, with an almost white belly, a dark brown face and a pink triangular pad on the chin. Young brown long-eared bats are greyish, so specialists separate the two reliably by measurement.
For hunting. Its big ears pick up very faint sounds, even a ladybird walking on a leaf. So it often finds insects without echolocation, simply by listening, and picks them off leaves. At rest it folds its ears back like rams' horns or tucks them under its wings.
It does not attack you, but do not touch it with bare hands. A bat bite can be tiny and easy to miss. Rabies cannot be ruled out by appearance, although most bats seen are not rabid. After a bite or scratch, wash the spot with soap and water for at least 15 minutes and see a doctor; in an emergency, call 112.
Stay calm and take children and pets out of the room. Close the doors to other rooms, open an outside window or door wide and switch off unnecessary lights. Then step back and give it time: a bat usually finds the way out by itself. Do not try to catch a flying bat.
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.
