Bats as prey of diurnal birds: a global perspective

Abstract

1.Predation is an important selective pressure that can influence prey species in numerous ways. Predator-prey relationships are, however, poorly understood in taxa not typically associated with these interactions; this is especially the case when bats (Chiroptera) are the prey. 2. The main aim here is to review and synthesise global information on the predation of bats by birds of prey (Accipitriformes and Falconiformes) and other diurnal bird groups. 3. We compiled data on incidences of predation of bats by diurnal birds, through an extensive multilingual study of bibliographic and Internet-based sources. Scientific papers were found mainly via the Thomson Reuters (Web of Science and Zoological Record) and Scopus databases, Google Scholar, and Google Books. Additional data were found through Internet searches of trip reports, images and videos carried by Google, Google Images, Flickr, and YouTube. 4. In total, more than 1500 cases of bats being attacked by diurnal predatory birds were obtained. Reports were documented from every continent (except Antarctica) and from 109 countries, and were thus distributed globally between 70°N and 43°S. Overall, we found evidence for predation of bats by 143 species of diurnal raptors (Accipitriformes 107 spp. and Falconiformes 36 spp.) and by 94 non-raptor bird species from 28 families. At least 124 and 50 bat species were taken as prey by raptors and by other diurnal bird species, respectively. 5. Attacks on bats by diurnal raptors were found to be distributed globally and were present in the majority of extant raptor lineages. Attacks on bats by other diurnal birds were also occasionally recorded. Furthermore, the majority of extant bat families featured as prey. These results strongly suggest that predation by birds may act as a major factor affecting the scarcity of daytime activity in bats and as a driver in the evolution of bat nocturnality.

Multiple mortality events in bats: a global review

“…The predators known to cause MMEs in bats include invertebrates, snakes, birds, and mammalian mesocarnivores (Appendix S2). Birds are most widely cited as predators of bats globally, and may be a selective force for nocturnality (Mikula et al in press). Two species of raptor specialise on bats, one in the Paleotropics ( Macheiramphus alcinus ) and one in the Neotropics ( Falco rufigularis ).…”

Effects of artificial illumination on drinking bats: a field test in forest and desert habitats

“…Bats are fully dependent on the protection offered by darkness: in fact, their nocturnality has probably evolved to avoid diurnal predators relying on vision (Rydell & Speakman, 1995;Mikula et al, 2016), and predation increases in daylight (Speakman, 1991). Consequently, ALAN elicits avoidance behaviour in most bat species, apart from a few opportunistic species that exploit insects congregating near streetlamps (e.g.…”

Forest Structure and Composition Affect Bats in a Tropical Evergreen Broadleaf Forest

“…This conclusion is supported by inverse relationships between canopy depth and palm canopy cover and midstory total and hardwood density, structural characteristics that would clutter the lower portion of the canopy; and by a lack of any relationship with other canopy characteristics, such as overstory density and canopy cover. It may also be that the deeper canopy, often associated with greater clutter, allowed bats to avoid predators and continue foraging, particularly when light levels in more open areas would have increased their chances of predation [13,22,23,30,68,69].…”

“…with increasing understory palm density supported this conclusion. In addition, a deeper canopy, often associated with greater clutter, may have led to a reduced predation risk [68,69].…”