Additional:
In our monitoring of the bat colony in Windsor Cave, we occasionally observed small, blood-filled ticks (Ixodida: Acarina) attached to individual Mormoops. This gives some insight into their flight or hunting behaviour, as clusters of ticks are most frequently encountered in the vegetation along the edges of trails or in pastures, less than two meters above the ground.

Although delicate in appearance, Mormoops has a remarkably swift flight and the vibration of the wings makes a distinctive humming “woosh” as they fly past (see also Goodwin 1970). You don’t need an acoustic bat detector to confirm Mormoops!

RESEARCHER ALERT: This species is extremely sensitive to being kept in cloth holding bags: the skin at the carpal bend can completely abrade, very quickly. Caution is needed when working with them.

Literature Cited
Emrich, M.A., E.L. Clare, W.O.C. Symondson, S.E. Koenig, and M.B. Fenton. 2013. Resource partitioning by insectivorous bats in Jamaica. Molecular Ecology 23: 3648-3656.
Mancina, C.A., L. Garcia-Rivera, and B.W. Miller. 2012. Wing morphology, echolocation, and resource partitioning in syntopic Cuban mormoopid bats. J. Mammology 95: 1308-1317.
Goodwin, R.E. 1970. The ecology of Jamaican bats. J. Mammology 51: 571-579.