Wildlife
Common blossom bats are a type of fruit bat, but they prefer to eat nectar and pollen over fruit. As they feed, they pollinate the flowers of the rainforest trees. When food is scarce, the bats can go into torpor to save energy. They're most likely to do this in the summer, when there may be a shortage of nectar and because the short summer nights don't allow much feeding time.
Scientific name: Syconycteris australis
Rank: Species
In order to see this content you need to have an up-to-date version of Flash installed and Javascript turned on.
Bat medicine
A spoonful of sugar helps a sick blossom bat recover.
A sick common blossom bat has been brought into the expedition camp. These bats feed predominantly on nectar from flowers so the scientists feed it a sugar solution from a syringe, showing clearly how its long prehensile tongue works. A good dose of sugar soon perks the little animal up so it can be released back to find a daytime roost before it gets too hot.
Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.
The Common blossom bat can be found in a number of locations including: Australia. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Common blossom bat distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Least Concern
Population trend: Stable
Year assessed: 2008
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The common blossom bat, Syconycteris australis, also known as the southern blossom bat or Queensland blossom bat, is a megabat in the family Pteropodidae.
The common blossom bat feeds mostly on nectar and pollen rather than fruit. They are only 60 mm long, and this small size most likely aids them in collecting pollen and nectar. S. australis changes roosts daily, unlike many of the larger species. The common blossom bat's only enemy is the honeybee. It is one of eight Pteropodidae species in Australia. It is the smallest of all fruit bats.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia. If you find the content in the 'About' section factually incorrect, defamatory or highly offensive you can edit this article at Wikipedia. For more information on our use of Wikipedia please read our FAQ.
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Adapted to flying
Herbivorous
Nocturnal
Pollinator
Polygynous
Viviparous