Cirque Du Lune

10.28.25

By Alyson Brokaw

Come one, come all! Right this way to see some of the most spectacular acts in nature. Witness the tremendous tricks of the world’s winged wonders— bats! You may already be familiar with the way they dip, dive, swoop, and swirl through the night sky, but here are just a few of their more unusual tricks that are sure to amaze.

The Expanding Tongue

You won’t want to miss this! Imagine being able to extend your tongue past your toes! You can watch in awe as the tube-lipped nectar bat (Anoura fistulata) unfurls its extra-long tongue, reaching lengths of up to one and a half times its entire body length (or up to 8.5 cm). Second only to the chameleon in its tongue tricks, the tube-lipped bat anchors its long tongue deep in the chest cavity at the base of its sternum. While other nectar bats also boast long tongues, the tube-lipped bat’s superior tongue length helps it access nectar deep in flowers that other bats can’t reach.

Applauding Aerialists

You’ve heard of echolocation: how bats call out through their mouths or noses and listen for returning echoes to map the night. You might even know about bats that click their tongues to navigate pitch-black caves. But put your hands together for the bats who clap their way through the dark! Some so-called “non-echolocating” bats, like the short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus brachyotis) and the cave nectar bat (Eonycteris spelaea), may actually use their wings to create a kind of rudimentary sonar. Watching these bats fly, researchers noticed that each wingbeat was paired with a soft clicking sound and it seemed to help them locate objects even in total darkness. Exactly how they produce these wing clicks is still a mystery, but the discovery adds a fascinating twist to the story of how echolocation evolved.

Wall Walkers

Move aside Spider-man and make room for the amazing wall-walking bats! The tiny and endearing disc-winged bats (Genus:Thyroptera) are the only mammals known to use suction to cling to smooth surfaces like leaves. Armed with small discs on their wrists and ankles, they roost head-up on the inside of rolled up leaves, held in place by a clever combination of suction and wet adhesion. Meanwhile, over in Madagascar, the sucker-footed bat (Myzopoda aurita) performs a similar trick, but without the suction. Instead, they use specialized pads on their wrists and ankles that hold them in place with wet adhesion alone. Like their disc-winged cousins, they also roost head-up on leaf surfaces, always poised for a swift getaway if a predator comes their way.

Leafy Architects

No hammers, no blueprints, no problem! With a few well-placed chomps and folds, our next act can craft leafy tents fit for the finest forest carnival. At least 22 species of bat are known to construct leafy homes for their daytime rest.

Many Neotropical fruit bats, sometimes also called “tent-roosting bats,” chew along major veins of living leaves, resulting in folded, tent-like structures. This includes beloved species like Peter’s tent-roosting bat (Uroderma bilobatum) and the Honduran white bat (Ectophylla alba). But when it comes to effort, few can outdo the Paleotropical short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx). Males have been observed bending and cutting as many as 300 leaves and stems to create their “stem tents,” a project that can take nearly two months to complete. The payoff is worth the labor: these leafy retreats provide both a safe place to sleep and a stage for attracting potential mates.

Silent Sneaks

For our grand finale, behold the stealthiest act in the forest — the bat that hunts what doesn’t even move! Like an airborne Freddy Krueger (minus the nightmares, we promise), the common big-eared bat (Micronycteris microtis) can detect completely motionless prey, such as resting caterpillars and katydids. Using echolocation, these bats detect insects hidden among dense leaves and branches, a feat most other bats can’t accomplish. They may even use those leaves as “acoustic mirrors,” using the clutter to their advantage. But don’t be scared—weighing about as much as a postcard, these bats haunt only the dreams of caterpillars.

With that, the curtain must close on our evening bat spectacular. But if you missed tonight’s performance, don’t despair—these performances occur nightly, with many new acts left to discover. And while bats have an arsenal of tricks and feats, their presence in our environments is a treat. From pollinating plants to providing free pest control, bats are stars in the greatest show on Earth.

Alyson Brokaw, PhD is a behavioral ecologist, sensory biologist and science communicator. When not talking about bats, she can be found cuddling with her dog, exploring her local Pennsylvania woods and throwing plastic on the ultimate frisbee field.