Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus)


Group	Bats
Code	AMACC04010
Order	Chiroptera
Family	Vespertilionidae
Author	(Beauvois, 1796)
Rank	G5 (definitions)
Occurrence	P (definitions)
Scale	N (definitions)

County List:


Western UP	all
Eastern UP	all
Northern LP	all
Southern LP	all

Rule:

Mixed Forested/Nonforested or Nonforested Landscapes

Foraging and Roosting Habitat Requirements may be distributed across the NEIGHBORHOOD

Foraging Habitat:
      Grass
      or Upland Brush
      or Savanna
      or Fields/Pastures
      or Residential
      or (Lake or Pond or River)
      or Riparian

Roosting Habitat:
      (Man-made Structures or Snags or Living Cavity Trees)

view decision rule term definitions

Habitat List:

Habitats	Regen	Sap	Pole	Sm Saw	Lg Saw	Uneven
Aspen	no	no	no	no	no	-
Paper Birch	no	no	no	no	no	-
Oak	no	no	no	no	no	no
Assorted Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Northern Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Spruce/Fir	no	no	no	no	no	no
Hemlock	no	no	no	no	no	no
Jack Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
Red Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
White Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
Conifer Plantations	no	no	no	no	no	-
Mixed Upland Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Northern Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Upland Conifer	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
Swamp Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Balsam Poplar & Swamp Aspen & Swamp Birch	no	no	no	no	no	no
Bottomland Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Tamarack	no	no	no	no	no	no
Northern White Cedar	no	no	no	no	no	no
Black Spruce	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Lowland Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Lowland Conifer	no	no	no	no	no	no
Non-Forested	Grass, Upland Brush, Savanna, Fields/Pastures, Residential, Lake, Pond, River
Special Features	Man-made Structures, Snags, Living Cavity Trees, Riparian

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Literature:

Kurta, A. 1995. Mammals of the Great Lakes Region. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. 376 pp.
In the Great Lakes region, it inhabits rural areas, towns and cities. It is most abundant in country dominated by farmland and least common in heavily forested regions.

Maternity colonies are typically in a house or barn, and this species is the most common building-dwelling bat in the southern Great Lakes basin. In houses, the bats most likely roost inside walls or a boxed-in eave and rarely enter attics. Unlike the little brown bat, the big brown bat does not relish a hot roost and generally relocates when air temperature exceeds 32°C (90°F).

The big brown bat is a beetle specialist.

DeGraaf, R. M. and D. D. Rudis. 1986. New England wildlife: habitat, natural history, and distribution. GTR NE-108. Broomall, PA:USDA, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 491 pp.
Habitat: Buildings, bridges, caves, tunnels, hollow trees in wooded areas; avoids hot attics.

Special Habitat Requirements: Seems to require cold, dry areas of caves or buildings for hibernation.

Baker, R. H. 1983. Michigan Mammals. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, MI. 642 pp.
Habitat Preferences: Unlike the myotis bats and the eastern pipistrelle with their apparent need to hibernate in the highly insulated and stable environments characteristic of caves and mine shafts, the big brown bat has a more tolerant constitution allowing it to winter in assorted, less substantial shelters. These include rural and urban human-made structures, such as barns, silos, storm sewers, churches, expansion joint spaces in concrete athletic stadiums, copper mines, and the double walls of attics and residences.

In presettlement times it is presumed that in most parts of Michigan, tree hollows provided both summer and winter quarters in the absence of natural caves or openings in rock ledges. However, as mentioned above, available buildings now provide abundant shelters.

It is reasonable to speculate that Michigan populations of the big brown bat have probably multiplied, perhaps many fold, in the past 100 years because of the increased number of human accommodations. In fact, the big brown bat seems to thrive best where roost site buildings are in recreational lands, farming areas, suburban developments and even inner-city environments. Evening observers in downtown Detroit, for example, have abundant opportunity to watch bat flights. The big brown bat is one native mammal which seems to have benefited greatly from intensive human occupation.

Food Habits: Food habit studies have shown that beetles are eaten more than any other insect group. Other insect prey include moths, wasps, flying ants, etc., flies, stoneflies, mayflies, true bugs, caddis flies, scorpion flies, lacewing flies, and dragonflies.