How do you tell the difference between Bats and Birds?

Question

During the evenings around where we live we get flying animals around our house that resemble birds but we think they might be bats. They flutter about and make a kind of chirping sound that could come from a bird but could also come from a bat. Could someone explain to me how you can tell the difference between the two when you're looking at them from a distance?(If possible) It'd be much appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

If you can see how the land, look at which way they are holding on to the surface that they're on, upside down = bat

Answer 2

Most bird species sleep at night..so these are most likely bats.

Answer 3

birds have beaks bats don't

Answer 4

bats take longer to cook

Answer 5

Birds move more gracefully. They make smooth curves or fly in fairly straight lines. Bats seem to fly in no general direction. They move in something like large circles but with jittery movements.

Answer 6

Very, very few birds fly at night, especially small ones.  

The chances are very good that these creatures you're seeing ARE bats.  You're very lucky to have them.  They do a great, great, great deal of good.  You must have some bright lamp lights near your home, or a large water source.  Most species of bats feed on insects, and if there is a bright light that's drawing in the insects, the bats are coming in too to feed on the bugs.

Did you know that a bat eats its own weight in insects every night.  All the insect eating bat populations eat TONS, yes tons, of insects every single night.  They eat Mosquitoes, Flys, Gnats, Moths, and many, many other insects.  They are principally responsible for keeping these overwhelming insect populations under control.  

There is only "one" bat species that is harmful to humans, and that's the Vampire Bat, and it's harm is COMPLETELY accidental in the case that one out of a million might have rabies.  

We could not survive without bats.

Did you know that you'd have no Tequilla to drink if it were not for bats?  Nectar-feeding bats are the only animals that pollinate the night-blooming flowers on the cactus  that the drink is made from.  

The Flying Foxes, or Fruit Bats, of the tropics help the trees by eating the over-rip and rotting fruit and then spread the undigested seeds throughout the forest.

Bats are wonderful and should be cherished and appreciated.  They bring beauty, charm, and fascination into our world.

You know what you can do?  You can buy a "bat house" from Bat Conservation International in Austin, Texas, over the internet.  Set it up in your yard, and bats will come and roost in it.  And, every night they'll fly around and eat all the pesky Mosquiteos that drive you nuts.  Think about it.

Answer 7

There are few birds active at night and most go to roost shortly after sunset.  You do describe bat flying and communicating.  The bat can make what looks like very sharp, right angel turns, birds cant do this.  Sometimes bat flying looks choppy, stop and go.  Bats often hunt over ponds.  Bats hunt the edges of woods, taking advantage of the updrafts the breeze make when entering trees.