EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Grey-Headed Flying Fox

Grey-Headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), Family Pteropodidae
Adelaide, Australia

Explanation:  Here in a local city park in the coastal town of Adelaide in South Australia, I happened upon a wonderful daytime roost of grey-headed flying foxes.  Yes, they fly.  No, they're not foxes.  And their communal roosts, sometimes consisting of thousands of bats, are also known as "camps."  

With a wing span of up to 3 ft (1 m), these are the largest member of their bat family, and are endemic to southern and eastern Australia woodlands and forests.  They disperse widely and may play important ecological roles of seed dispersers of native trees.  They feed at night, and also serve to pollinate flowers.  

But they are listed as Vulnerable by IUCN, are locally decreasing, and may become a threatened species.  Thus, special signs are erected beneath known daytime roost sites, warning not to disturb any fallen individuals, and to contact an animal health care center for help:

In fact, heroic work is afoot here, with special dispatches of a Flying Fox Rescue Team, a part of Fauna Rescue South Australia:

In previous EPOW episodes, we have encountered another flying fox species of northeast Australia, as well as giant fruit bats of Nepal, and more, but the grey-headed flying fox is unique in its vocalizations, size, and highly social structure.