Insectivorous bats found hunting in the day in Italy

A small group of soprano pipistrelles (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) has been discovered hunting during the day in a mountain canyon in Italy. The bats routinely come out to feed well before sunset, looking for gnats, wasps and bugs. Such behaviour is extremely rare for insectivorous bats, as it makes vulnerable to being caught and eaten by predatory birds. Note: Individual bats are sometimes seen flying during the day, but they usually do so soon after hibernation, when they are starving and need to replace fat reserves depleted during the winter. What the researchers in Italy have found is different: systematic hunting behavior by a whole colony. More from the BBC