Bats of Bosque del Cabo

Our first night here we saw bats (not sure of the species) flying around at dusk right outside the back of our bungalow, lots of them! And they would fly very near us! What an experience!

bats outside Lapa at dusk

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Some nighttime views from our bungalow's observation deck...

Off to bed...

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At dawn, you could sit out on the observation deck and observe the bats finding their way back home. What an early morning treat!

bats outside Lapa at dawn

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Bosque del Cabo has (that I currently know of):

• White-Lined Sac-Winged Bats (Saccopteryx bilineata/leptura) in a cave on the Pacific beach (which I learned after our trip)
• Spix's Disk-Winged Bats (Thyroptera tricolor) - observed in rolled heliconia leaves
• Jamaican Fruit-Eating Bats (Artibeus jamaicensis) - observed pollinating the Guapinol or Stinky Toe Tree
• Tent-Making Bats (Uroderma bilobatum) - note: several bat species roost under leaf tents, including the Caribbean or Honduran White Bat (Ectophylla alba) - that look like powder puffs - and Thomas' Fruit-Eating Bat (Artibeus watsoni), but the species identified as the "Tent-Making Bat" is Uroderma bilobatum. Some of the leaves they convert into tents include those of the heliconia, palm, banana, and philodendron.
• Bats (not sure which) that pollinate flowers of the Pochote tree
• Bats (not sure which) that pollinate flowers of the Calabash tree (Glossophaga and Artibeus are known to)

(note: common names link to photos of species found online - not necessarily taken at BDC - and scientific names link to informative sites)

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See a nice Costa Rican trip report with lots of bat photos

related posts:
Bosque del Cabo Sunset Tour
The Disk-Winged Bats of Lapa Rios

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