About bats in Estonia

In Estonia, 14 species of bats have been found so far (family Vespertilionidae in the order Chiroptera). There are more than 1,300 bat species in the world which make about fifth of all mammal species. Traditionally, bats are divided into two major groups: Megachiroptera or megabats (sometimes called fruit bats or flying foxes) and Microchiroptera or microbats, but recent studies of genetics suggest new groupings of bats.


List of bat species identified in Estonia:

  1. Northern Bat, Eptesicus nilssonii
  2. Nathusius’s Pipistrelle, Pipistrellus nathusii
  3. Common Pipistrelle, Pipistrellus pipistrellus
  4. Soprano Pipistrelle, Pipistrellus pygmaeus
  5. Noctule Bat, Nyctalus noctula
  6. Leisler’s Noctule, Nyctalus leisleri
  7. Brown Long-eared Bat, Plecotus auritus
  8. Particolored Bat, Vespertilio murinus
  9. Natterer’s Bat, Myotis nattereri
  10. Whiskered Bat, Myotis mystacinus
  11. Brandt’s Bat, Myotis brandtii
  12. Daubenton’s Bat, Myotis daubentonii
  13. Pond Bat, Myotis dasycneme
  14. Western Barbastelle Bat, Barbastella barbastellus

Several of these are rare in Estonia where they are living at or near the northern limit of their range. One of such species is the Pond Bat. IUCN currently lists the Pond Bat as near threatened. Rapid decline has been reported in several European countries. Although this decline may now have slowed, it is nevertheless suspected to approach 30% globally over the last 15 years. Along with this assessment it has been noted that there is currently little information for the eastern parts of Pond Bat's range (Russia).

© 2017-2018 Estonian Fund for Nature, "Improving the Pond Bat (Myotis dasycneme) habitats in Estonia" project. All rights reserved. Project is funded by EU LIFE Programme. The information on this website may not reflect the official view of the European Commission.