Bats belong to a group of mammals called Chiroptera, meaning "hand-wing". There are about 950 different species worldwide, about one-quarter of the world's mammal species. Bats are not flying rodents as some people believe them to be, and are the only animal capable of true flight. They are divided into two suborders: Megachiroptera, meaning large bat (the fruit bats), and Microchiroptera, meaning small bat (insect eating). Insect eating bats navigate and hunt by a system called echolocation. In the UK, there are 16 species of bats all of which are Microchiroptera, or insect eaters. All have been recorded in Devon which provides exceptionally rich habitat for feeding and excellent summer maternity roosts and winter hibernaculum. Good information exists for some species on major roost sites, but many records have been gathered in a much more ad hoc way and are not based on systematic surveys.

All 16 species of bat are found in Devon - Common pipistrelle, Soprano pipistrelle, Nalthusius’ pipistrelle, Noctule, Barbastelle bat, Serotine bat, Leisler’s bat, Brown long-eared bat, Grey long-eared bat, Lesser horseshoe bat, Greater horseshoe bat, Whiskered bat, Brandt’s bat, Daubenton’s bat, Natterer’s bat and Bechstein’s bat! The southwest is a stronghold for the greater and lesser horseshoe bats.

For more information on Bats please visit the Devon Bat Group or The Bat Conservation Trust