Attempted Consumption of a Northern Long-eared Bat (Myotis septentrionalis) by an American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) in Tennessee

摘要: The American crow(Corvus brachyrhynchos) is the most common species of crow in the southeastern United States, and it consumes a variety of plants and animal prey, including carrion (Verbeek and Caffrey, 2002). Crows are opportunistic foragers and obtain most food on the ground or by scanning from a perch; however, they use a variety of foraging strategies, such as capturing insects and small birds on the wing (Chamberlain, 1965; Cuccia, 1984; Putnam, 1992; Verbeek and Caffrey, 2002). We report attempted consumption of a northern longeared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) by an American crow in Tennessee. On 20 January 2014 at about 1600 h (CST), one of us (RB) startled an American crow from its perch and witnessed it fly away and drop a bat-sized object. After searching the area for 15 minutes, the authors found a female northern long-eared bat on the ground. The bat was dead (cool to the touch …