Standard Common Name
Yellow-bellied Sheathtail BatHabitat
Yellow-bellied Sheathtail Bats roost in hollows in old trees, and sometimes in the abandoned nests of sugar gliders. They usually form small colonies of up to 30.
Seasonality
Yellow-bellied Sheathtail Bats seem to migrate in winter from cooler areas in southern Australia to warmer northern areas.
Feeding and Diet
Yellow-bellied Sheathtail Bats feed on flying insects, including beetles. They fly quickly but are not good at twisting and turning when chasing their prey. However they also feed on insects living in open forests and open grasslands.They usually eat their prey as they are flying.
Conservation Status
Yellow-bellied Sheathtail Bats are vulnerable to loss of tree hollows and loss of feeding grounds by forestry activities, clearing for agriculture and housing
Classification
Species:flaviventris Genus:SaccolaimusFamily:EmballonuridaeOrder:ChiropteraSubclass:EutheriaSubphylum:VertebrataPhylum:ChordataKingdom:Animalia
New South Wales info
Description
The Yellow-bellied Sheathtail-bat is a very distinctive, large, insectivorous bat up to 87 mm long. It has long, narrow wings, a glossy, jet-black back, and a white to yellow belly extending to the shoulders and just behind the ear. Characteristically, it has a flattened head and a sharply-pointed muzzle. The tail is covered with an extremely elastic sheath that allows variation in the tail-membrane area. Males have a prominent throat pouch; females have a patch of bare skin in the same place.Distribution
The Yellow-bellied Sheathtail-bat is a wide-ranging species found across northern and eastern Australia. In the most southerly part of its range - most of Victoria, south-western NSW and adjacent South Australia - it is a rare visitor in late summer and autumn. There are scattered records of this species across the New England Tablelands and North West Slopes.
Habitat and ecology
Roosts singly or in groups of up to six, in tree hollows and buildings; in treeless areas they are known to utilise mammal burrows.
When foraging for insects, flies high and fast over the forest canopy, but lower in more open country.
Forages in most habitats across its very wide range, with and without trees; appears to defend an aerial territory.
Breeding has been recorded from December to mid-March, when a single young is born.
Seasonal movements are unknown; there is speculation about a migration to southern Australia in late summer and autumn.
Threats
Disturbance to roosting and summer breeding sites.
Foraging habitats are being cleared for residential and agricultural developments, including clearing by residents within rural subdivisions.
Loss of hollow-bearing trees; clearing and fragmentation of forest and woodland habitat.
Pesticides and herbicides may reduce the availability of insects, or result in the accumulation of toxic residues in individuals' fat stores.
Recovery strategies
A targeted strategy for managing this species has been developed under the Saving Our Species program; click here for details. For more information on the Saving Our Species program click here
A targeted strategy for managing this species has been developed under the Saving Our Species program; click here for details. For more information on the Saving Our Species program click here
Activities to assist this species
Raise landowners' awareness about the presence of the species and provide information on how their management actions will affect the species' survival.
Conduct searches for the species in suitable habitat in proposed development areas.
DEC should be consulted when planning development/s to minimise impact/s on populations.
Retain stands of native vegetation, especially those with hollow-bearing trees (including dead trees), and retain other structures containing bats.
Retain a buffer of vegetation around roost sites in vegetated areas.
Protect hollow-bearing trees for breeding sites, including those on farmland; younger mature trees should also be retained to provide replacements for the older trees as they die and fall over.
Reduce the use of pesticides in the environment.
Encourage regeneration and replanting of local flora species to maintain bat foraging habitat.
Assess the site's importance to the species' survival, including linkages provided between ecological resources across the broader landscape.
Mark known sites and potential habitat onto maps used for planned poison-spraying activities.
Conduct searches for the species in suitable habitat in proposed development areas.
DEC should be consulted when planning development/s to minimise impact/s on populations.
Retain stands of native vegetation, especially those with hollow-bearing trees (including dead trees), and retain other structures containing bats.
Retain a buffer of vegetation around roost sites in vegetated areas.
Protect hollow-bearing trees for breeding sites, including those on farmland; younger mature trees should also be retained to provide replacements for the older trees as they die and fall over.
Reduce the use of pesticides in the environment.
Encourage regeneration and replanting of local flora species to maintain bat foraging habitat.
Assess the site's importance to the species' survival, including linkages provided between ecological resources across the broader landscape.
Mark known sites and potential habitat onto maps used for planned poison-spraying activities.
Information sources
Churchill, S. (1998) Australian Bats. New Holland, Sydney.
Hall, L.S. and Richards, G.C. (1979) Bats of Eastern Australia. Queensland Museum Booklet No. 12. (Queensland Museum, Brisbane)
Lumsden, L.F. and Menkhorst, P. (1995) Yellow-bellied Sheathtail-bat. Pp 161-2 in Menkhorst, P.W. (ed.) Mammals of Victoria. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Lumsden, L.F., Bennet, A.F., Krasna, S.P. and Sillins, J.E. (1995) The conservation of insectivorous bats in rural landscapes in northern Victoria. Pp 142-8 in Bennett, A., Backhouse, G. and Clarke, T. (eds.) People and Nature Conservation: Perspec
Regional distribution and habitat
Click on a region below to view detailed distribution, habitat and vegetation information.
Australian Alps
Brigalow Belt South
Broken Hill Complex
Channel Country
Cobar Peneplain
Darling Riverine Plains
Mulga Lands
Murray Darling Depression
Nandewar
New England Tablelands
NSW North Coast
NSW South Western Slopes
Riverina
Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields
South East Corner
South Eastern Highlands
South Eastern Queensland
Sydney Basin
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