Uploaded November 2013 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Every summer in Santa Clarita, California, these interesting animals start to appear in the sky at sunset... At first they look like birds, flying erratically at low altitude, apparently chasing dusk-flying insects. After watching them for a bit, one can tell that they aren't birds at all... The wing shape is much different than a bird, and the flight pattern/behavior is different as well. When slowed down 10x (filmed using a Casio Exilim EX-F1 high speed camera at 300 frames per second) the difference is more obvious, but their flight skills can also clearly be seen to rival that of any bird. Captured here in a number of scenes, these fliers can be seen performing unusual "aero-BAT-ics" (sorry, couldn't resist!) such as rolls, half loops, and short-term inverted flight while maneuvering to catch their prey in flight.
While bats come in many sizes and types, these bats are small, with a body size roughly that of a common mouse. Their wings are fascinating, being the rough equivalent of our arms and hands with greatly elongated fingers, and a very thin skin/membrane webbing stretched between the long skinny finger bones. These bats are very lightweight (.2 - .5 oz. which is roughly as much as a quarter or half dollar coin), with a huge wing-to-mass ratio, which is why they can fly under their own arm-flapping power while WE cannot!
While bats have a somewhat scary/dangerous reputation, there are vast numbers of them and they are actually quite beneficial to humans and the environment. Bats are credited with consuming huge volumes of insects (measured in TONS per night), including mosquitoes, in any given area. Bat species which drink nectar also provide pollination services for night-blooming plant species.
On the darker side, bats are known to carry rabies (estimated to be less than 1% of any given population), and at least three species actually drink blood... Yes, Vampire Bats are real! (They're found in central and south America, but only rarely feed on humans). Fortunately, we as humans have little fear from them, and tales such as bats attacking or deliberately flying into and becoming entangled in ladies hair are largely fictional.
More interesting reading on a common bat species can be found here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_brown_bat
...and check out this Wiki article on Vampire Bats!:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_bat
The soundtrack is "Misty Night (Shifted RevMix)" from the "TimeShift" CD by Technician (yours truly), album and single track available on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/album/timeshift/id416810514 full artist discography and CDs available at HTTP://technician.jcmdi.com
Note: This is copyrighted material, however, you may download this footage directly from YouTube and use it free of charge in your own non-profit/non-commercial YouTube videos, school projects, etc. The full free usage policy and YouTube copyright notice/ad info can be found here (please read before using JCMDI material): jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#freeusage jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#partner Soundtracks by Technician (yours truly), available on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/artist/technician/id416810516 Full artist discography at HTTP://technician.jcmdi.com
Every summer in Santa Clarita, California, these interesting animals start to appear in the sky at sunset... At first they look like birds, flying erratically at low altitude, apparently chasing dusk-flying insects. After watching them for a bit, one can tell that they aren't birds at all... The wing shape is much different than a bird, and the flight pattern/behavior is different as well. When slowed down 10x (filmed using a Casio Exilim EX-F1 high speed camera at 300 frames per second) the difference is more obvious, but their flight skills can also clearly be seen to rival that of any bird. Captured here in a number of scenes, these fliers can be seen performing unusual "aero-BAT-ics" (sorry, couldn't resist!) such as rolls, half loops, and short-term inverted flight while maneuvering to catch their prey in flight.
While bats come in many sizes and types, these bats are small, with a body size roughly that of a common mouse. Their wings are fascinating, being the rough equivalent of our arms and hands with greatly elongated fingers, and a very thin skin/membrane webbing stretched between the long skinny finger bones. These bats are very lightweight (.2 - .5 oz. which is roughly as much as a quarter or half dollar coin), with a huge wing-to-mass ratio, which is why they can fly under their own arm-flapping power while WE cannot!
While bats have a somewhat scary/dangerous reputation, there are vast numbers of them and they are actually quite beneficial to humans and the environment. Bats are credited with consuming huge volumes of insects (measured in TONS per night), including mosquitoes, in any given area. Bat species which drink nectar also provide pollination services for night-blooming plant species.
On the darker side, bats are known to carry rabies (estimated to be less than 1% of any given population), and at least three species actually drink blood... Yes, Vampire Bats are real! (They're found in central and south America, but only rarely feed on humans). Fortunately, we as humans have little fear from them, and tales such as bats attacking or deliberately flying into and becoming entangled in ladies hair are largely fictional.
More interesting reading on a common bat species can be found here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_brown_bat
...and check out this Wiki article on Vampire Bats!:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_bat
The soundtrack is "Misty Night (Shifted RevMix)" from the "TimeShift" CD by Technician (yours truly), album and single track available on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/album/timeshift/id416810514 full artist discography and CDs available at HTTP://technician.jcmdi.com
Note: This is copyrighted material, however, you may download this footage directly from YouTube and use it free of charge in your own non-profit/non-commercial YouTube videos, school projects, etc. The full free usage policy and YouTube copyright notice/ad info can be found here (please read before using JCMDI material): jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#freeusage jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#partner Soundtracks by Technician (yours truly), available on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/artist/technician/id416810516 Full artist discography at HTTP://technician.jcmdi.com
