# what type of bat did I just see? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2015, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-bat-did-i-just-see/718970 "2015-05-01T06:10:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Cardboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardboard)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-bat-did-i-just-see/718970/1 "2015-05-01T06:10:51Z")
I was out taking my nightly 2am walk when I saw a giant bat flying overhead. it was the biggest I’ve ever seen being the size of a crow. I am currently in Geneseo New York. that’s all the information I have to give. What kind of bat could I have seen? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-bat-did-i-just-see/718970/2 "2015-05-01T06:18:37Z")
[Start here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bats_of_the_United_States). North America doesn’t get the biggest bats (megabats, aka “the cute ones,” although some are smaller than microbats). WAG: Big brown bat? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-bat-did-i-just-see/718970/3 "2015-05-01T13:42:48Z")
You might have seen a nightjar, and not a bat; in your area either a [whippoorwill](http://identify.whatbird.com/img/4/2197/image.aspx?x=250) or a [nighthawk](http://www.bentler.us/eastern-washington/animals/birds/nighthawk-catching-insects.jpg). I just saw the former’s southern cousin the chuck-will’s-widow a few nights ago in point of fact. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-bat-did-i-just-see/718970/4 "2015-05-01T16:56:33Z")
Are you sure it wasn’t an owl? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-bat-did-i-just-see/718970/5 "2015-05-01T17:17:46Z")
> [@Cardboard](#): > > I was out taking my nightly 2am walk when I saw a giant bat flying overhead. it was the biggest I’ve ever seen being the size of a crow. I am currently in Geneseo New York. that’s all the information I have to give. What kind of bat could I have seen? If it was a bat, it definitely wasn’t the size of a crow. Crows have a wingspan of about 3 feet, while the largest bat likely to be found in New York, the Big Brown Bat, has a wingspan of up to 16 inches. So it was either a bird, or you overestimated its size. (Size is difficult to evaluate in flying animals, especially at night.) ---
**Author:** ![Cardboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Cardboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardboard)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-bat-did-i-just-see/718970/6 "2015-05-01T21:15:45Z")
I’m pretty sure it was a bat judging by the way it was flying. Maybe it wasn’t the size of a crow. It probably was a big brown bat.