ITS BAT BREEDING SEASON

If the trees are rocking, don’t come knocking — it’s bat breeding season for Spectacled Flying-foxes!

If you live near a roost, you’ve probably noticed things have been a little noisier since September. That’s because our furry night gardeners have been busy giving birth and raising their pups.

Now, things are about to get spicier — and smellier — as the males start throwing around pheromones and showing off for the ladies during the breeding season.

The good news? Their mating season only lasts a few weeks. By Easter, most females will be pregnant again, and the colonies will disperse into smaller groups until next season.

Timing and Seasonality

• Spectacled Flying-foxes are monoestrous — meaning they only have one breeding season each year.
• Mating season usually happens between January and March.
• Gestation lasts about six months, timed so that pups are born when the rainforest is bursting with fruits and blossoms.
• This ensures that new mums have plenty to eat when energy demands are at their highest.

Courtship Behaviour

• Males set up mini territories within the roost and use special scent glands on their necks and shoulders to mark branches.
• These scents — a musky cocktail of pheromones and natural oils — serve as a kind of bat cologne, attracting females and warning off rivals.
• Males show off with a mix of chattering, screeching, and wing-flapping.

A Crucial Time for an Endangered Species

Spectacled Flying-foxes are listed as endangered, and every successful breeding season is vital to their survival.

They are pollinators and super seed dispersers. Their work keeps our rainforests healthy and connected — benefits that ripple out to our farms, gardens, and coastal environments.