The forests, waterways and grasslands of the Park provide a haven for native bats. One species of megachiropteran bat and nine species of microchiropteran bats have been recorded to date. All bat species are nocturnal - hunting by night and roosting by day.
Megachiropteran bats (megabats) are generally large bats, with wingspans of up to one metre. They eat nectar and fruit, and rely on acute night vision and a keen sense of smell to locate food trees. During the day, megabats roost in large numbers in tree branches, usually located in rainforest gullies or along rivers or creeks.
The only megabat species to have been recorded at Sydney Olympic Park is the Grey-headed Flying-fox. It does not currently roost at the Park, but can often be seen and heard at night, flying overhead and feeding on flowering and fruiting trees.
Microchiropteran bats (microbats) are mostly insectivorous species that navigate and hunt their prey using echolocation. Most species are small, averaging 9cm in body length and weighing less than 13g, with a wingspan of less than 25cm.
By day, microbats normally roost within the hollows of live or dead trees, under bark, or within caves. Within urbanised areas where natural habitat is less available, many bats roost within the roof or wall cavities of buildings, stormwater drains and other man-made structures. During the breeding season, females may congregate in ‘maternity roosts’ for several months until their young become independent.
Nine microbat species have been recorded at Sydney Olympic Park in recent years; this is a high proportion of the total number of microbat species known to occur within the Sydney area. The nine species are:
Microbats have been recorded across all areas of the Parklands and within the Town Centre of Sydney Olympic Park. However, the main feeding, roosting and breeding habitats appear to be the Newington Nature Reserve forest and its buffer zone within Newington Armory. The White-striped Free-tailed Bat, Lesser Long-eared Bat, and Gould’s Wattled Bat use the roof and wall cavities of some of the heritage buildings in the Armory as maternity roosts.
Some bat species have adapted well to urban environments, but many microbat species are in decline around Sydney. It is likely that up to 17 species of bats would have inhabited the area of Sydney Olympic Park at the time of first European settlement.
Two of the species that currently occur at the Park, the Eastern Bent-winged Bat and the Little Bent-winged Bat, are listed as vulnerable species under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.
The White-striped Free-tailed Bat maternity roost at Newington Armory is of high conservation significance as it is the only one known to occur in the Sydney region. It is therefore likely to be important to the conservation of the regional population of this species. It is also the only known White-striped Free-tailed Bat maternity roost that occurs within a building (maternity roosts of this species are usually within tree hollows).
Strategic planting of shrubs is increasing the extent and diversity of microbat foraging habitat at Sydney Olympic Park.
Disturbance from noise and light is minimised or avoided in key microbat habitat areas.
Access to buildings known to be used by bats is restricted to protect roost sites.
Dead trees in forests are retained to provide roosting habitat.
Bat roost boxes have been installed to provide additional roost sites.
Microbat populations at the Park are monitored to provide information to guide ongoing habitat management.
See Environment Reports for more information about microbat surveys and management at Sydney Olympic Park.
For more information about bats generally, visit the Australasian Bat Society http://batcall.csu.edu.au/abs/absmain.htm or the Australian Museum http://australianmuseum.net.au/Australian-bats