Common Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus)
Common Pipistrelles are one of the smallest and most common bat species in Britain. They are flying mammals that is made possible by their ‘wings’, which is a webbed membrane that extends across their modified, spread-out digits. They have brown fur and long, blunt noses, and appear fast and jerky in flight as they dodge about pursuing small insects.
Habitat
Common Pipistrelles are common in woodland and farmland but are also found in towns.
Behaviour
Common Pipistrelles do not make nests, but hang upside-down by their feet in roosts, in places such as hollow trees, caves, loft spaces in buildings and bat boxes. For several weeks in summer, large groups of females choose somewhere warm to gather in maternity roosts. In winter they are found singly or in smaller numbers.
Feeding
Common Pipistrelles use their ears to catch and eat small, flying insects whilst on the wing. They emit high frequency calls and listen for echoes that bounce back from their prey – a process called echolocation. They then swoop in and grab the unsuspecting insects. Common Pipistrelles can eat over 3,000 insects in a single night!
Breeding
Common Pipistrelles mate during the autumn, but the females store the sperm and do not become pregnant until the spring. After 6 to 9 weeks females usually give birth to a single baby, which they keep close to them and nurture until they are old enough to fly.
