Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1993, Page 79

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Bats (Chiroptera) in the Faroe Islands
Hans Baagøe and Dorete Bloch
Úrtak
I Føroyum er ongantíð skrásett, at flogmýs hava átt her,
men ferðandi flogmýs eru skrásettar 11 ferðir síðani
1964. Staðfest varð, at seks av hesum flogmýsnum
hoyrdu til trý sløg, allar hoyrdu til tey europeisku flog-
músasløgini, sum eru 30 í tali: Ein Leislers flogmús,
Nyctalus leisleri, ein hýggiflogmús, Vespertilio
murinus og fýra trøllflogmýs, Pipistrellus nathusii. Tað
vfða havið millum oyggjarnar og nakað meginland hev-
ur havt tamandi árin á flogmúsaútbreiðsluna á oyggj-
unum.
Tey trý sløgini eru millum tey 5-6 av teimum 30
europeisku sløgunum, sum verða mett sum flytisløg ella
langvegis flúgvarar. Um tær vóru komnar higar óvirkn-
ar (við skipi) sum ein spjaðing av mannaávum, og
eftirsum skip koma til Føroya frá nærum øllum støðum
í Europa, høvdu nærum øll tey europeisku flogmúsa-
sløgini verið væntandi - bert treytað av ovurnøgd og
atburði teirra í tí havnini, har ið fermt verður. Tí tykist
vera mest sannlíkt, at tær seks eyðmerktu flogmýsnar
hava flogið allan vegin ella meginpartin av leiðini
sjálvar, kanska stuðlaðar av undanvindi. Leislers flog-
músin kom ivaleyst úr Irlandi ella Bretlandi, hýggiflog-
músin allarhelst úr Noregi ella Danmark og trøllflog-
mýsnar frá at kalla hvar sum helst á meginlandinum
møguliga um Bretland ella Noreg.
Introduction
Breeding populations of bats (Chiroptera)
have never been found in the Faroe Islands,
but since 1964 single vagrant bats have
been recorded on eleven different occasi-
ons. We were able to obtain six of these
bats and identify the species and they are
kept at the Museum of Natural History in
Tórshavn.
Reports (by D. Bloch and J.K. Jensen) to
the local press about the first identified bats
in the late eighties created an increased
interest among the public and resulted in
more reports, including some of an earlier
date. This makes it reasonable to suggest
that vagrant bats may very well have reac-
hed the islands earlier than our first record
from 1964, but that earlier occurrences
were not reported.
Vagrant bats in the North Atlantic have
been recorded from Orkney, Shetland, and
British oil rigs (Corbet and Harris, 1991;
Speakman et al., 1991), Iceland (Koopman
and Gudmundsson, 1966; Petersen, 1993),
and even in Greenland. A list, including an
analysis of all recorded bat occurrences in
the North Atlantic, is in preparation (Baag-
øe et al., in prep.).
Records and details
1. Unidentified bat observed flying around. A Trøð-
um, Sandoy, summer, around 1964 (Eyðun Winth-
er, pers. comm.).
2. Unidentified bat. Hvalba. around 1970 (Jákup Pauli
Ludvig, pers. comm.).
3. Unidentified bat. Sandavágur. around 1980.
4. Unidentified bat. Vestmanna, Streymoy. 1986.
5. Leisler’s bat, Nyctalus leisleri, ct ad. Mykines. June
28,1984 and the following days some omithologists
observed a bat flying in full daylight hunting insects
over the airstrip on Mykines.
July 15 a bat (almost certainly the same individual)
was found roosting in a nearby small hut, apparently
weak or lethargic. The bat was collected by Mr
Albin Thomsen and died in captivity July 21.
6. Nathusius’s pipistrelle, Pipistrellus nathusii, 2 ad.
Miðvágur. February 17,1987. Found in a weak state
outside the school building and collected by the
school teacher.
Fróðskaparrit 41. bók. 1994 (1993): 83-88