Grabbing a meal with bats: Gleaners vs. Aerial Hawkers

All species of bats in the Okanagan and Similkameen are insectivores, so they only eat insects. No fruit or blood eating bats here. However, that does not mean that they catch insects in the same way. There are aerial hawkers, which scoop the insects straight out of the air, and gleaners, which pick the insects off the ground or other surfaces. Bat species can specialize in one of these techniques or they could use both depending on the situation.

The Fringed bat that is found in the Okanagan is thought to be a gleaner, but not enough information has been found about this species to confirm it. They think this because of the thickness of their wings makes it harder to puncture. This is a common characteristic in gleaners since their wings are more likely to rub up against rougher objects than aerial eaters. Fringed bats will also eat many insects that are fully terrestrial that helps back up this assumptions. The fringe on the bat is also thought to help remove insects from vegetation. Little brown bats are generally aerial-hawkers, but have been seen using both techniques. At the end of the day, as long as they can get food, the method doesn't matter.