Scientists have captured the first direct evidence of a bat catching and eating a bird in mid-air, confirming long-standing theories about the animal’s predatory behaviour.
The research, published in the journal Science, used tiny data-recording backpacks to track greater noctule bats in southern Spain.
The devices captured their altitude, speed, and the sounds of prey encounters, revealing the moment one bat pursued and consumed a migrating robin during the night.
Researchers recorded the bat climbing to more than 1,200 metres before diving rapidly toward the bird. The recording included feeding sounds lasting for 23 minutes, suggesting the animal was consuming its prey while still in flight.
Dr Laura Stidsholt, a co-author of the research based at Aarhus University, said: “It’s fascinating that bats are not only able to catch them, but also to kill and eat them while flying.
“A bird like that weighs about half as much as the bat itself – it would be like me catching and eating a 35-kilo animal while jogging.”
The team also found evidence of bird wings scattered beneath roosting areas, with DNA analysis linking them to species such as robins and warblers. The scientists believe the bats discard the wings to make it easier to eat the rest of the bird mid-air.
“Using [these] high-tech approaches, the Science paper is the first to track the hunting manoeuvre of a greater noctule chasing and catching a robin,” Danilo Russo, a bat ecologist at the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, who was not involved with the study, told Science News.
“Although there is no visual observation of the hunting episode, in my opinion, this study nevertheless provides compelling evidence that birds are caught in flight.”
The greater noctule is Europe’s largest bat and was already known to feed on birds based on earlier evidence from droppings and wing fragments. But this study offers the first direct proof of the hunting process in real time.
Experts say the findings reshape what scientists know about aerial predators. Under the cover of darkness, the noctules can ascend to the same altitudes as migrating birds and strike with precision, all while maintaining flight.
The study’s authors say the discovery sheds light on how bats and birds interact during migration and could help inform conservation strategies for both groups.
