Little Red Flying Fox

Pteropus scapulatus

Smallest Australian flying fox, 1-meter wingspan. Camps of up to a million bats. A vital pollinator dwarfed by its crowd.

Population: No precise global count; abundant, nomadic species with the widest distribution of any Pteropus in Australia, with individual camps sometimes exceeding 1 million bats during breeding/lactation season
Habitat: Roosts in large, often mixed-species camps in riparian vegetation, mangroves, bamboo stands, and closed forest near rivers/streams, including coastal and inland arid regions; forages in surrounding woodland/forest
Fun fact: Unlike most flying foxes that dip their bellies in water to drink, the little red flying fox skims the water's surface with its body in flight and then licks the moisture off its own fur.
Range: Northern and eastern Australia, from the Kimberley/Shark Bay area across the Top End and Queensland down through New South Wales into Victoria (occasionally southeastern South Australia); highly nomadic, following flowering eucalypts; vagrants recorded in Papua New Guinea and once in New Zealand
Diet: Primarily nectar and pollen from Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Melaleuca blossoms, supplemented with soft/cultivated fruits; important pollinator and seed disperser
Size: 0.16 m
Wingspan: 1 m
Lifespan: 15 years

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