Giant bat catches and eats birds midflight

The night sky always keeps secrets. Scientists have just exposed one of its wildest. After almost 25 years of work, researchers finally confirmed that Europe’s biggest bat, the greater noctule, doesn’t just snack on insects.

The bat hunts small birds more than a kilometer above the ground and eats them while flying. No landing, no pause, just midair hunting and feeding.

This discovery solves a mystery that puzzled biologists for decades. It also shows how much happens in the darkness that we never imagined.

Bats hunting birds at night

Every year, billions of songbirds travel long distances between their breeding and wintering grounds. Most migrate at night, thinking the dark sky protects them from predators. It doesn’t. While birds move silently across the stars, bats patrol the same space.

To track these hunts, researchers equipped greater noctules with tiny backpacks made at Aarhus University. The devices recorded altitude, movement, and sound. The data showed a clear story.

The bats soared high, scanned the sky with loud, low-frequency echolocation, and found prey invisible to the human eye. Birds never heard the calls. By the time they noticed the threat, it was already too late.

Once locked on target, the bat launched a rapid series of short calls and began its attack. Everything happened in total darkness – fast, quiet, and precise.

Speed and precision

The biologgers revealed some wild maneuvers. In one chase, a bat dived straight down for thirty seconds, accelerating like a fighter jet.

Another chased a robin for nearly three minutes before catching it near the ground. The microphone picked up twenty-one distress calls from the bird, then twenty-three minutes of chewing sounds as the bat ate midair.

X-ray and DNA tests later confirmed what really happened. The bat bit the bird, tore off its wings to lighten the load, then held it between its legs and ate it while flying low. The image feels brutal, but it’s a perfect piece of evolution.

“We know that songbirds perform wild evasive manoeuvres such as loops and spirals to escape predators like hawks during the day – and they seem to use the same tactics against bats at night,” noted Professor Laura Stidsholt from Aarhus University.

“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.”

How bats catch birds

The idea that some bats eat birds isn’t new. Spanish researcher Carlos Ibáñez from the Doñana Biological Station in Seville first suggested it almost 25 years ago.

Ibáñez had found feathers in greater noctule droppings and guessed the bats were catching songbirds midair. Many scientists didn’t believe him.

Filming a night chase proved nearly impossible, and older tracking tools were too heavy for bats. His team tried everything – radar, cameras, even ultrasound recorders attached to hot-air balloons. Each attempt failed to deliver solid proof.

When lightweight biologgers finally arrived, so did the evidence. “We knew that the greater noctule catches and eats insects in flight, so we assumed it did the same with birds – but we needed to prove it,” said Ibáñez.

For him, this discovery is the reward for decades of patience and persistence. It confirms what his data had hinted at all along.

Sounds of the hunt

For study co-lead author Elena Tena, hearing the proof was unforgettable. “While it evokes empathy for the prey, it is part of nature. We knew we had documented something extraordinary.”

“For the team, it confirmed what we had been seeking for so long. I had to listen to it several times to fully grasp what we had recorded,” Tena said.

Her reaction captured what every biologist dreams of – catching nature in the act. The recordings revealed not only how the bats hunt but also how complex their behavior is. This is no random feeding. It’s planned, swift, and stunningly efficient.

Saving bats and birds

Despite their power, greater noctules are among Europe’s rarest bats. Forest loss and shrinking habitats threaten them far more than any ecological pressure. They live quietly, breed in tree hollows, and are often pushed out by human development.

Understanding how they live and hunt is crucial for protecting them. Conservationists can now design better strategies knowing exactly where and how these bats operate.

So the mystery is finally solved. Europe’s largest bat hunts songbirds in midair, a scene hidden from human eyes until now. It’s a reminder that even in the quiet dark, nature never sleeps – it moves, hunts, and surprises.

The study is published in the journal Science.

Image Credit: Jorge Sereno

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