Chocolate Wattled Bat

Chocolate Wattled Bat Photographer - Bruce Thomson

Chalinolobus morio

This small insectivorous bat is a rich chocolate colour and weighs about nine grams.

It is commonly found in a wide range of habitats including from Melbourne suburbs to Mountain Ash forest.

It feeds on flying insects which it captures on the wing and relies heavily on echo-sounding for navigation and feeding, making sounds often outside the human hearing range.

Naked young of these placental mammals are born from late spring to early summer, and fed by the mother for several months.