The grey long-eared bat has very long ears and catches moths and other prey in flight over open grassland.
Its ears are almost as long as its body. When roosting, it curls them or tucks them beneath its wings.
Furzebrook House in southern England was built in 1885. Its complex roof had nine sections and a volume of about 385 m³. Starting in 1960, researchers studied bats in the roof and caught eight species in its accessible sections. Long-eared bats of the genus Plecotus were the most numerous, and Gray Long-eared Bat (Plecotus austriacus) was identified among them.
The two long-eared bat species in the roof used different temperatures during winter. P. austriacus hibernated in warmer areas of about 12°C. Where temperatures fluctuated more, the bats woke more often and lost weight. In summer, they were not found in the hottest roof sections or in clusters.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Building roofs can serve as winter roosts for wild bats. In this study, Gray Long-eared Bats used warm areas, while greater temperature fluctuations were associated with more arousals and weight loss.