Where Do Vampire Bats Migrate?

Bats are considered to be the only mammal able to fly. This ability to fly suggests that maybe vampire bats have the ability to migrate or fly south like birds do when the climate gets bad.

Vampire bats do not migrate from the regions in which they live due to the fact that they must eat every two to three days and after eating they are unable to fly. If they do not eat every two to three days they will starve to death, which makes migration impossible. This is the reason why vampire bats are found rarely in cold climates. 

As such, when asking about where vampire bats migrate to, the answer is that they don't migrate anywhere at all.

Vampire bats are native to areas that are tropical and sub-tropical to areas in both North and South America. However, it is possible to find them anywhere where there is large enough prey for them to eat, meaning anywhere where there are domesticated cows, pigs, and horses.

All About the Vampire Bat

Just because vampire bats don't migrate anywhere, however, doesn't mean that they aren't interesting. Vampire bat is the common name for the scientific species known as Desmondus rotundas. This species of bats is rather ordinary looking in comparison with most other bats. The characteristics of a vampire bat are:

• Weight: An adult vampire bat weighs approximately one ounce.
• Size: An adult vampire bat is approximately the size of an adult human’s thumb.
• Wingspan: The wingspan on an adult bat is approximately eight inches.
• Lifespan: Vampire bats in their natural habitat typically live for approximately nine years. However, a vampire bat in captivity can live for approximately twenty years.
• Mating: Vampire bats are capable of mating all year round and typically have one offspring every year. The gestation time for a vampire bat is approximately six to eight months.
• Family: These bats live in large colonies inside of caves, hollows, trees, and buildings. These colonies are structured with strong social bonds where grooming one another is seen often.
• Diet: Vampire bats are carnivorous. They eat the blood of large mammals by sneaking up on their prey using a ground attack and heat sensors in their noses to locate the blood closest to the skin. They then slice open the skin with sharp teeth and lap the blood. They must eat every two to three days in order to survive and not starve to death. If a bat is unable to find a food source, the other bats in the colony will feed the hungry bat through regurgitation.

Bats Which Migrate

Bats can be found all over the world in many different regions, except in the extreme polar regions. Some of those who live in colder regions can and do fly to warmer locations during the winter months.

There are 1,000 varieties of bats that make up almost one-fourth of the world’s mammal population. Bats are divided into two groups according to size. These two groups are Megachiroptera, or large bat, or Microchiroptera, or small bat.

Large bats can have up to a 6 foot wingspan and the bodies of small bats can be as tiny as one inch. The lifespan of a bat can be as long as 30 years. Bats are natural pest controllers, with up to 70 percent of bat species consuming insects as their main source of nutrition. However, there are other bats that eat fruit and even some that are carnivorous, such as the vampire bat.