World's Largest Urban Bat Colony - Austin, TX
Posted by: 
DougK
N 30° 15.705 W 097° 44.706
14R E 620718 N 3348456
The Congress Avenue Bridge is a major tourist attraction in the summer time. People come to watch the bats take flight at sunset, creating what looks like a large smoke stream as they emerge and fly away to feed.
Waymark Code: WMG59D
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/14/2013
Views: 9
Bats have lived in Austin for many years, but they did not arrive in great numbers under the Congress Avenue Bridge until a major deck reconstruction in 1980. This new construction created crevasses 16 inches deep running the length of the bridge. Bats live primarily in those that are three quarters to to one-and-a-half inches wide. Temperature and humidity conditions within these spaces are ideal for raising young.
Between mid-March and early November, the Congress Avenue Bridge houses the largest urban bat colony on North America. More than one million free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) call the bridge "home". While in residence each year these bats provide a valuable service to Central Texas by consuming more than four million pounds of insects. Each night at dusk, the colony emerges from beneath the bridge and flies east across the horizon to forage. The bat exodus has become one of the most spectacular and unusual attractions in the United States.
A short video and a longer video of the bats taking flight can be found on YouTube.