Lesser Long-Nosed Bats are Long-Distance Flight Phenoms

by Kathryn Slater, Bat Conservation International
April 15, 2025

A team of scientists from Bat Conservation International (BCI), New Mexico State University, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, along with a binational network of researchers has discovered that lesser long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) are in an elite group of bat species known to fly incredibly long distances. Their study, published in Ecology, reveals that these bats made overnight flights of nearly 117 miles across the Gulf of California and migrate over 1,013 miles between roosts in Mexico. These findings highlight the species’ remarkable endurance and underscore the need for international conservation efforts.

The lesser long-nosed bat depends on nectar and fruits and is known to migrate from southern Mexico to the southwestern United States each year following nectar blooms of columnar cacti and agave plants. While this species is known to migrate seasonally, direct long-distance movements of individuals have never been documented given the challenges of tracking small flying mammals.

Keep reading: https://www.batcon.org/press/lesser-long-nosed-bats-are-long-distance-flight-phenoms/

Read the Ecology paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70067