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Bird and Flying-Fox Bat Damage to Orchard Fruit: A Guide - Flying-fox Bat Damage

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Look for large, compressed pieces of skin and flesh on the ground under the tree. These are formed when Flying-foxes bite off a piece of a fruit, compress the fruit between tongue and hard palate to extract the juice, then spit out the remains. These fragments, known as “spats”, are about the size of a ten cent piece and are a clear sign of Flying-fox feeding. With pome fruits, the whole fruit may be consumed, therefore the only evidence may be spats under trees where the upper branches should have fruit present.

Look for broken leaders (new season’s shoots) at the top of the tree.

Look for tooth marks on fruit or under the tree.

Look under tall trees within approximately 100 metres of your fruit trees particularly for spats. Also, stones from peaches, nectarines and plums and partially-eaten fruit may be present on the ground directly below trees.

Flying-foxes may knock fruit to the ground when moving about the tree. This fruit will not necessarily have any sign of damage.

NB: If you cannot find spats under your fruit trees or under nearby shelter or ornamental trees, then it is unlikely that Flying-foxes are feeding on your fruit.


      Image: Line









      Peach tree with several leaders broken by Flying-foxes, reducing next year’s crop.
      Photo: Ian Temby
      Photo: Peach tree with several leaders broken by flying-foxes
      Image: Line
      Grey-headed Flying-fox (bat), these are large animals
      with a wing span up to 1 metre.
      Photo: Courtesy Healesville Sancturary



      Below left:
      Flying-fox bites on plum. Two separate bites are indicated by the white lines.
      Below right:
      Spats (some circled) and plum stones (some arrowed). Note size of spats.
      Photos: Ian Temby
      Photo: Grey-headed Flying-fox
      Image: Line
      Photo: Flying-fox bites on plum
      Photo: Spats and plum stones
      Image: Line

          Peach stones dropped below Flying-fox feeding perches.

          Usually, many spats and sometimes nearly whole fruit are found below perches. This fruit will
          usually show tooth marks, as Flying-foxes carry them in their mouths.

      Image: Line









      Trees used as feeding roosts by Flying-foxes.
      Arrow shows where peach stones found.
      Photo: Ian Temby
      Photo: Trees used as feeding roosts by flying-foxes
      Image: Line








      Peach stones dropped below Flying-fox
      feeding perches. Usually, many spats and
      sometimes nearly whole fruits are found
      below such perches.
      Photo: Ian Temby
      Photo: Peach stones dropped below flying-fox feeding perches
      Image: Line

          Typical fresh spat made by Flying-fox feeding on apple.

          Note the fragments of skin and fruit pulp compressed together. This is characteristic of spats and distinguishes them from remnants of fruit that may have been dropped by birds. The size is generally consistent. Fresh spats are obvious under feeding sites. Older, dried spats may be brown and slightly shrivelled, however may still be identified as spats. These should not be confused with fallen fruit or fragments left by birds.

      Image: Line










      Part-eaten apple and spats left
      below feeding roosts by Flying-foxes.
      Photo: Ian Temby
      Photo: Part-eaten apple and spats
      Image: Line









      Typical fresh spat made by Flying-fox
      feeding on apple. Note the fragments of
      skin and fruit pulp compressed together.
      Photo: Ian Temby
      Photo: Typical fresh spat made by flying-fox feeding on apple


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