The White-striped Freetail Bat is a microbat with a fierce wrinkled face and docile nature. It can be found around trees, where it searches for moths and insects in the canopy and at ground level. It prefers a direct path when searching for food, and will follow a line of redgums along a creek.

Small groups will roost together in tree hollows, and individuals can live in loose bark, dead stumps and gaps in sheds and buildings. Hollowed out trees provide space for maternity colonies of several hundred bats. Females are believed to give birth to a single baby near the end of each year. These bats are one of the few microbats with echolocation calls that humans can hear.

Size: 92mm

Illustration: Mark Trinham