In Ireland, Leisler’s bats can be seen after sunset, flying over parks and fields as they hunt insects.
It is Ireland’s largest bat and flies level at greater heights than other Irish species.
In northeastern Germany, researchers tracked 32 adult Leisler’s bats from three colonies with GPS loggers over two consecutive summers. The bats used oak woodland, residential areas and village greens, while avoiding coniferous forest. Old trees near churches and streets were selected as roosting places.
Tree rows and small wooded patches were also used, and the bats tended to avoid intensively farmed land while foraging. Their flight height averaged 72 metres and overlapped widely with the rotor-swept zone of local turbines. The authors recommend retaining old trees and urban green spaces and placing turbines away from bat colonies.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In northeastern Germany, tracked Leisler’s bats used oak woodland as well as residential areas and village greens. Their mean flight height was 72 ± 57 metres, overlapping the rotor-swept zone of turbines. The authors recommend retaining old trees and urban greenspaces and placing turbines away from colonies.