big brown bat

noun

: an insectivorous medium-sized bat (Eptesicus fuscus) having brownish fur that is found from southern Canada to northern South America and that often roosts in buildings

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

In the first study, published in December, a team of scientists from the USGS, the University of Wisconsin, and Louisiana State University found that the big brown bat (Epstesicus fuscus), one of the most common in the United States, was resistant to infection by the virus. —Eric Niiler, Wired, 1 July 2021

Even a notable exception, the big brown bat, has seen a 30 percent decline — a serious problem, but not when compared to the types of bat that have seen two or three times that decline. —Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 10 Sep. 2022

The state's two most-common bat species are the little brown bat and the big brown bat. —Allen Kim, CNN, 26 May 2020

These species include big brown bat, silver-haired bat, eastern red bat, hoary bat, evening bat and eastern myotis. —Sheryl Devore, Lake County News-Sun, 23 Apr. 2018

Little brown bats tend to roost in barns and sheds in colonies of 30 or more, while big brown bats [which are not endangered] have roost sites in attics and in people’s houses in colonies of 10. —Margeaux Sippell, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Apr. 2018

For instance, a study published last fall in PLOS Biology explored the reason that big brown bats waggle their heads like puppy dogs and curl the tips of their ears down. —Jason Bittel, Smithsonian, 23 Mar. 2017

In the same study, the researchers estimated that a colony of 150 big brown bats in Indiana ate nearly 1.3 million insects per year, and a million bats would consume 600 to 1,320 metric tons of insects per year. —Rachel E. Gross, Smithsonian, 27 Oct. 2017

In one experiment, a big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) hibernated in a refrigerator for 344 days, suggesting bats may deserve the title (although, the animal didn’t exactly choose to and didn’t survive the feat). —Christie Wilcox, National Geographic, 12 Oct. 2017

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Word History

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined above