Atlas der Säugetiere Nordrhein-Westfalens

Zwergfledermaus

11767 entries

Common Pipistrelle

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Pipistrellus pipistrellus

Next to the Soprano Pipistrelle, the Common Pipistrelle is the smallest bat in North Rhine-Westphalia. With its wings folded, the Common Pipistrelle, which weighs around 5 g, is barely thumb-sized. Its ears are short and have a rounded tip. On the upper side, Common Pipistrelles are red-brown to dark-brown; the nearly similar coloured underside is barely lighter. The differentiation between Soprano and Common Pipistrelle is difficult. Among others, the latter is distinguished from the Soprano Pipistrelle by a dark facial mask and, in contrast to the Soprano Pipistrelle, usually calls at a much higher frequency with the best frequency of the Common Pipistrelle varying around 45 kHz.
Common Pipistrelles are typical house bats, which occur in villages as well as in cities. They inhabit suitable crevice hideouts, especially in the exterior walls of buildings, but chimney sidings can also serve as a roost; the animals don′t distinguish between old and new buildings. Nursery colonies are located in such roosts, which can shelter a few animals, but also large colonies or up to 400 bats are known. Common Pipistrelles often fly shortly after sunset to hunt, for instance, near bodies of water, in gardens, parkscapes or also in coniferous forests. As a rule, these are the barely swallow-sized bats, which one occasionally sees flying around the house. Especially in August there are repeated entries of even larger numbers of Common Pipistrelles in living and business quarters. If they don′t find their way out through the opened windows, the animals should be carefully collected and released.
Common Pipistrelles are predominantly philopatric and don′t conduct major migrations. During the cold season of the year in NRW, mostly frost-free hideouts inside building are sought out. One finds hibernating assemblages, for example, in the air layer of walls.
The Common Pipistrelle occurs widely in all of NRW and, without a doubt, the most common bat species here. It can also live in cities and, especially in the hill country; it is the dominant bat during the warm part of the year. In the course of the past decades, the population of Common Pipistrelle has markedly increased in North-Rhine -Westphalia.

Author

Manfred Lindenschmidt und Henning Vierhaus

Citation

Lindenschmidt M, Vierhaus H (2025): Zwergfledermaus (Pipistrellus_pipistrellus).In: AG Säugetierkunde NRW — Online-Atlas of the mammals of North Rhine-Westphalia. Downloaded from saeugeratlas-nrw.lwl.org on 2025/05/01