EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

A Solitary Yellow-winged Bat

Yellow-winged Bat (Lavia frons), Family Megadermatidae, Large-winged Bats
Lake Baringo, Rift Valley, Kenya

Explanation:  Resembling a dead leaf while hanging still, this is a Yellow-winged Bat of Kenya, Africa.  

Yellow-winged Bats inhabit savannahs, woodlands, and forest environments along water courses ... in this case, in tree cover along the broad Lake Baringo in east Africa.  

Common and widespread, Yellow-winged Bats can escape predators by suddenly flushing from their roost sites and displaying their bright coloration.  This is known as "flash behavior" ... that initially startled this photographer but prompted me to follow it to two or three brief rest sites until I was able to capture these photos.  

Yellow-winged Bats belong to the family of large-winged bats -- also called false vampire bats -- that generally have broad wings, large ears, large heads, thin silky fur, and decorated nose-leaves, and that are found only in the Old World and Australasia.  

They are harmless, feeding on invertebrates which may include insect pests ... so they provide an ecosystem service and are welcome guests to lodges and homes.  This one was solitary, like several others I discovered along the lake front.