Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) lives in caves and forests across Southern Europe and Asia. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Hear the Greater Horseshoe Bat
A real field recording of the Greater Horseshoe Bat, made in the wild.
Moths dominate its menu, making up about 41 % of meals, especially noctuid species, while beetles provide roughly a third (33 %) of its intake, with dung beetles like Aphodius rufipes especially prized. The remaining bite comes from flies, wasps and even cave spiders. This diet shows the bat's flexibility, but also ties its fate to insect populations that are vulnerable to pesticide use.
In Britain the bat is on the brink: only about 1 % of its historic population remains, with estimates of just 4 000-6 600 individuals today. They now occupy merely 35 maternity/all-year roosts and 369 hibernation sites, a dramatic contraction that underscores how loss of hedgerows, insecticides and roost disturbance can push a once-widespread species to the edge of extinction.
Greater horseshoe bats may seem homebodies, yet they routinely trek up to 30 km between winter and summer roosts, and one individual was recorded covering a staggering 180 km (110 mi) on a single move.
When hunting, the bat fires ultrasonic clicks that sit between 69 kHz and 83 kHz, concentrating most of their energy at 81 kHz, each pulse lasting an average of 37.4 ms.
Weighing up to 30 g (1.1 oz) and spanning 350-400 mm (14-16 in) across, this bat can live as long as 30 years, the longest recorded age for the species.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
In the twilight depths of ancient forests, the Greater Horseshoe Bat unfurls its leathery wings, stirring to life as the last wisps of daylight surrender to the darkness. With a slow, deliberate beat, it takes to the air, its distinctive, horseshoe-shaped noseleaf twitching as it navigates the labyrinthine canopy, emitting a constant stream of high-pitched calls that echo through the trees like a spectral chant. As it flits and weaves, its agile form blurs into a mesmerizing dance, a symphony of sound and motion that has remained largely unchanged for millennia.
Advertisement
Hear the Greater Horseshoe Bat, and 4,400+ more
Real recorded sounds, 11 nature games and a free Daily 5, 1v1 quiz duels, conservation wins and a safe Kids mode. Free on Feravox.
