Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1993, Page 80

BATS IN THE FAROE ISLANDS
7. Nathusius’s pipistrelle, Pipistrellus nathusii, S ad.
Weight 5.5 g. Nólsoy. From December 5,1987 regu-
larly seen flying about until December 27 when it
was collected (Jens-Kjeld Jensen, pers. comm.).
8. Particoloured bat, Vespertilio murinus, ? ad. Weight
8.4 g. Sandavágur. June 27, 1988, Tórur Gudmud-
son found this bat in a weak state while working in
his garden. Killed and collected June 28.
9. Unidentified bat. Around November 1, 1989 (Jens-
Kjeld Jensen, pers. comm.). In very strong winds
sailing on Munkagrunnin south of Suðuroy (ap-
proximately 61°05’N-06°35’W), two fishermen
found a bat hanging in a split near one of the wheel-
house windows of the boat. The animal was dark
brown and of an estimated length of 5 cm. It re-
mained on the boat for about a week, but was finally
caught and put in a box from which it however
escaped after they had reached Vágur on Suðuroy.
10. Nathusius’s pipistrelle, Pipistrellus nathusii, c ad.
Weight 5.9 g. Sumba, Suðuroy. Seen flying in the
morning of January 9, 1992. Later the same day it
Fig. 1. og 2. Leisler’s bat, Nyctalus leisleri.
Photo: Jiirgen Gebhard, Basel.
Mynd 1. og 2. Leislers flogmús, Nyctalus leisleri.
Photo: Jiirgen Gebhard, Basel.
flew against the concrete wall of a house. It was sent
to the Museum of Natural History in Tórshavn
where it was killed on January 11. There was a storm
at Sumba January 31, 1991.
11. Nathusius’s pipistrelle, Pipistrellus nathusii, S ad.
weight 6.2 g. Lopra, Suðuroy. Found October 1,
1992 flying around in the school. Sent to the
Museum of Natural History the next day.
Discussion
Apart from no. 9 on the list, which travelled
at least the last part of the way by ship, it is
not known how these bats got to the Faroe
Islands. Is it likely that they flew all or part
of the way themselves, perhaps aided by
favourable winds i.e. active dispersal? Or
did they travel passively, transported by
man? Whereas the majority of the vagrant
bats recorded from Iceland are North
American species (Petersen, 1993), all 3
species recorded from the Faroe Islands
belong to the European bat fauna.
The 30 European bat species are very
different in their willingness to fly over