The advent of the chain saw and the disappearance of wooden barns and tightly insulated houses have caused a loss of habitat for these animals. Bats have been unfairly maligned for centuries in our culture. Yet they consume an enormous quantity of insects, as many 600 mosquitoes per hour. To put it in perspective, that is the human equivalent of eating 30 pizzas in one night. They also eat insects that whose larvae fed upon crops.
Some tropical bats are vital for pollinating crops or spreading seeds of the rain forests.
In Illinois and throughout the northern U.S. and Canada, the most common bat is the Microchiroptera or little brown bat. This insect eater hibernates in colonies in caves and mines. In the summer, they often inhabit buildings where females congregate in nursery colonies to bear their young. Male little brown bats are likely to be solitary in the summer. The bluebird session at 3 pm will discuss the bird's habitat, behavior and appearance.