Daytime behaviour of the grey-headed flying fox Pteropus poliocephalus Temminck (Pteropodidae: Megachiroptera) at an autumn/winter roost.

2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. Connell ◽  
U. Munro ◽  
F. R. Torpy
Keyword(s):  
Management Strategies ◽  
Reproductive Period ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Flying Foxes ◽  
Fruit Bat ◽  
Open Forest ◽  
Pteropus Poliocephalus ◽  
Baseline Information ◽  
Daytime Behaviour ◽  
Flying Fox

The grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus Temminck) is a threatened large fruit bat endemic to Australia. It roosts in large colonies in rainforest patches, mangroves, open forest, riparian woodland and, as native habitat is reduced, increasingly in vegetation within urban environments. The general biology, ecology and behaviour of this bat remain largely unknown, which makes it difficult to effectively monitor, protect and manage this species. The current study provides baseline information on the daytime behaviour of P. poliocephalus in an autumn/winter roost in urban Sydney, Australia, between April and August 2003. The most common daytime behaviours expressed by the flying foxes were sleeping (most common), grooming, mating/courtship, and wing spreading (least common). Behaviours differed significantly between times of day and seasons (autumn and winter). Active behaviours (i.e., grooming, mating/courtship, wing spreading) occurred mainly in the morning, while sleeping predominated in the afternoon. Mating/courtship and wing spreading were significantly higher in April (reproductive period) than in winter (non-reproductive period). Grooming was the only behaviour that showed no significant variation between sample periods. These results provide important baseline data for future comparative studies on the behaviours of flying foxes from urban and ?natural? camps, and the development of management strategies for this species.

scholarly journals Roost of Gray Flying Foxes (Pteropus griseus) in Indonesia and Records of a New Hunting Threat

Diversity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheherazade ◽  
Susan Tsang
Keyword(s):  
Small Islands ◽  
Anecdotal Evidence ◽  
Conservation Action ◽  
International Union ◽  
Flying Foxes ◽  
North Sulawesi ◽  
Fruit Bat ◽  
Data Deficient ◽  
Conservation Threats ◽  
Flying Fox

Pteropus griseus (gray flying fox) is a species of Old World fruit bat that is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Data Deficient. The species is found on small islands in the Lesser Sundas and Sulawesi, and is endemic to Indonesia, but no contemporary roosts are known, and the last study of the species was in Timor in the Lesser Sundas. In this study, we describe the first known day roost in Sulawesi for Pteropus griseus and collected anecdotal evidence regarding conservation threats to the colony. We compared data from flying foxes collected from this roost to other P. griseus specimens and those of closely related co-occurring species to confirm its identity. We confirmed that this roost is likely of Pteropus griseus, though the subspecies identity remains to be determined. However, it is newly threatened by middlemen traders of bat meat from North Sulawesi arriving to encourage local villagers near the roost to hunt the bats. Elevated levels of hunting may deplete the entire colony in a single season should no conservation action be taken to safeguard the roost.

Accuracy and precision of grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) flyout counts

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Forsyth ◽  
Michael P. Scroggie ◽  
Eve McDonald-Madden
Keyword(s):  
Linear Models ◽  
Flying Foxes ◽  
Information Theoretic ◽  
Accuracy And Precision ◽  
Pteropus Poliocephalus ◽  
Observer Effects ◽  
Observer Experience ◽  
Principal Method ◽  
Good Support ◽  
Flying Fox

The principal method for estimating the abundance of bats in roosts is to count the number of bats exiting the roost at dusk (‘flyout counts’). We hypothesised that the accuracy and precision of flyout counts decrease non-linearly as the number of bats moving per unit of time increases, and that accuracy increases with observer experience. To test these hypotheses, we filmed grey-headed flying-foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) exiting a roost in Melbourne on three consecutive evenings. The film was slowed and the number of flying-foxes flying-out in 30-s intervals was counted and assumed to be the true abundance. Thirteen other observers independently counted the number of flying-foxes flying-out in real time. We formulated our hypotheses into candidate models and compared support for these models using information-theoretic methods. Non-linear models had much greater support than linear models for all three flyouts. There was undercounting in two flyouts and overcounting in the third. There was good support for an effect of observer experience in one of the flyouts, but less support in the others. Precision declined as the true abundance increased in all three flyout counts. Our results indicate that accuracy, precision and observer effects vary with the dynamics of each flyout, and suggest that under some conditions flyout counts will often provide both inaccurate and imprecise estimates of abundance.

scholarly journals REVIEW- INDONESIAN FLYING FOXES: RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION STATUS UPDATE

TREUBIA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 103-113
Author(s):  
Susan M Tsang ◽  
Sigit Wiantoro
Keyword(s):  
Research Effort ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Keystone Species ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Flying Foxes ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Fruit Bat ◽  
Anthropogenic Development ◽  
Flying Fox

Flying foxes are important ecological keystone species on many archipelagoes, and Indonesia is home to over a third of all flying fox species globally. However, the amount of research on this clade belies their importance to natural systems, particularly as they are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic development and hunting. Here, we provide a review of the literature since the publication of the Old World Fruit Bat Action Plan and categorize research priorities as high, medium, or low based on the number of studies conducted. A majority of the research priorities for Indonesian endemics are categorized as medium or high priority. Low priority ratings were in multiple categories for widespread flying fox species found throughout Southeast Asia, though much of the data were from outside of the Indonesian extent of the species range. These research gaps tend to highlight broader patterns of research biases towards western Indonesia, whereas significant research effort is still needed in eastern Indonesia, particularly for vulnerable island taxa.

scholarly journals Human-modified landscapes provide key foraging areas for a threatened flying mammal: The grey-headed flying-fox

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259395
Author(s):  
Samantha H. Yabsley ◽  
Jessica Meade ◽  
John M. Martin ◽  
Justin A. Welbergen
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Foraging Habitat ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Flying Foxes ◽  
Mobile Species ◽  
Flying Fox

Urban expansion is a major threat to natural ecosystems but also creates novel opportunities that adaptable species can exploit. The grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) is a threatened, highly mobile species of bat that is increasingly found in human-dominated landscapes, leading to many management and conservation challenges. Flying-fox urbanisation is thought to be a result of diminishing natural foraging habitat or increasing urban food resources, or both. However, little is known about landscape utilisation of flying-foxes in human-modified areas, and how this may differ in natural areas. Here we examine positional data from 98 satellite-tracked P. poliocephalus for up to 5 years in urban and non-urban environments, in relation to vegetation data and published indices of foraging habitat quality. Our findings indicate that human-modified foraging landscapes sustain a large proportion of the P. poliocephalus population year-round. When individuals roosted in non-urban and minor-urban areas, they relied primarily on wet and dry sclerophyll forest, forested wetlands, and rainforest for foraging, and preferentially visited foraging habitat designated as high-quality. However, our results highlight the importance of human-modified foraging habitats throughout the species’ range, and particularly for individuals that roosted in major-urban environments. The exact plant species that exist in human-modified habitats are largely undocumented; however, where this information was available, foraging by P. poliocephalus was associated with different dominant plant species depending on whether individuals roosted in ‘urban’ or ‘non-urban’ areas. Overall, our results demonstrate clear differences in urban- and non-urban landscape utilisation by foraging P. poliocephalus. However, further research is needed to understand the exact foraging resources used, particularly in human-modified habitats, and hence what attracts flying-foxes to urban areas. Such information could be used to modify the urban foraging landscape, to assist long-term habitat management programs aimed at minimising human-wildlife conflict and maximising resource availability within and outside of urban environments.

Managing the Grey-Headed Flying-Fox as a Threatened Species in NSW. P. Eby and D. Lunney (Eds) A Review by Eleanor Wills.

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 215
Author(s):  
E Wills
Keyword(s):  
Threatened Species ◽  
New South ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Zoological Society ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Pteropus Poliocephalus ◽  
Legislative Changes ◽  
Flying Fox

THE grey-headed flying fox Pteropus poliocephalus is managed simultaneously under two contrasting paradigms in New South Wales (NSW), as a threatened species and as a pest in orchards and at camps in some urban centres. Many authors have called attention to the lack of understanding of the species and the obstacle this may pose for conservation efforts. Managing the grey-headed flying-fox as a threatened species in NSW was produced as a result of a forum held on the 28th of July 2001 by the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales. It provides a comprehensive and up-todate review of management strategies for the species, in the context of recent legislative changes.

Milk Composition in the Grey-headed Flying-fox, Pteropus poliocephalus (Pteropodidae : Chiroptera)

1997 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Messer ◽  
Kerryn Parry-Jones
Keyword(s):  
Post Partum ◽  
Milk Composition ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Flying Foxes ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Total Solids ◽  
Carbohydrate Concentration ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Pteropus Poliocephalus ◽  
Flying Fox

Milk samples from 11 captive flying-foxes were collected at various times during lactation from 5 to 139 days post partum and analysed for protein, carbohydrate, total solids and ash. In addition, samples from 14 free-living animals, collected on a single occasion, were analysed. No significant changes in milk composition were observed during lactation in the captive bats except for a small increase in protein and a small decrease in carbohydrate concentration late in lactation. The milk from captive bats contained less protein and total solids than that from free-living animals (mean values: protein, 2·59 and 3·64%, repectively; total solids, 11·1 and 12·7%, repectively) but there was no significant difference with repect to the carbohydrate (6·13 and 6·44%, respectively). The fat content, estimated from the total solids by difference, was low (1·9 and 2·2%, respectively) in both captive and free-living animals. The results are compared with previously published values for milk composition in Chiroptera and are discussed in the context of nursing behaviour and diet in captive and free-living flying-foxes.

Predation on cicadas by an Australian Flying-fox Pteropus poliocephalus based on DNA evidence

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-528
Author(s):  
Helen M Smith ◽  
Linda E Neaves ◽  
Anja Divljan
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Analysis ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Insect Feeding ◽  
Flying Foxes ◽  
Insect Abundance ◽  
Dna Evidence ◽  
Direct Observations ◽  
Pteropus Poliocephalus ◽  
Flying Fox

Historically, reports of insectivory in family Pteropodidae have largely been anecdotal and thought to be an incidental corollary of flying-foxes feeding on plant products. More recent direct observations of flying-foxes catching and consuming insects, as well as advances in techniques that increase our ability to detect dietary items, suggest that this behaviour may be deliberate and more common than previously thought. Usually, multiple insects are consumed, but it appears that flying-foxes hunt and eat them one at a time. However, we have collected and photographed oral ejecta pellets under trees with high flying-fox activity, some containing evidence of multiple masticated insects. Further genetic analysis proved that these pellets came from Grey-headed Flying-foxes Pteropus poliocephalus. We propose that flying-foxes use an array of insect feeding strategies, most likely in response to variation in insect abundance and activity, as well as abiotic factors such as light and temperature.

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