Black-eared flying fox Black-eared flying fox The black-eared flying fox ("Pteropus melanotus"), also known as Blyth's flying fox and Christmas Island flying fox, is a species of bat in the family Pteropodidae. It is found on Christmas Island (Australia), Andaman Islands (India), Nicobar Islands (India), and Sumatra (Indonesia). The population on Christmas Island, which is critically endangered, is considered either a subspecies of "Pteropus melanotus", or a distinct species, "Pteropus natalis." The black-eared flying fox is native to various island groups in the Indo-Pacific. These include the Andaman Islands, the Nicobar Islands, the Mentawai Islands and Christmas Island. It mostly roosts in large
Black flying fox roosts with the grey-headed flying fox ("Pteropus poliocephalus"), the spectacled flying fox ("P. conspicillatus"), and/or the little red flying fox ("P. scapulatus"). They roost in mangroves, paperbark swamps, patches of rainforest and bamboo forests, and very rarely in caves or underneath overhangs. Black flying foxes breed once a year. A single young is born and carried by its mother for the first month of life, after which it is left behind in the roost when the mother is out foraging at night. Black flying foxes eat pollen and nectar from native eucalyptus, lilypillies, paperbark, and turpentine trees. When native foods