Asian parti-colored bat Vespertilio sinensis as the prey of the carrion crow Corvus corone in Amakusa, Kumamoto, Japan

Abstract

The Asian parti-colored bat Vespertilio sinensis, both juvenile and adult, was the prey of the carrion crow Corvus corone in Amakusa City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Carrion crows flew into the roost and breeding sites of the Asian parti-colored bat, possibly by listening to their audible sound calls, and caught them by sight. From the bat carcasses collected at the site, at least nine Asian parti-colored bats were thought to have been eaten by crows between June and August. Crow behaviors such as swallowing the bats and flying away from the sites holding the bats in their beaks showed that not all bat carcasses were left at the building site. This indicates that more bats are likely to have been consumed by carrion crows. The predation pressure of carrion crows on Asian parti-colored bats appears to be high at the survey site.