17th-Century Flemish Painting May Show Early Evidence of Bird-Eating Bats

Jan Brueghel the Elder’s 1611 painting "Air" includes a detailed assemblage of exotic birds and, notably, three bats that researchers have identified as members of the Vespertilionidae family. The bat shown in the upper right corner appears to be a noctule species holding a bird in its mouth. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences argues that this detail may constitute the first direct artistic evidence of bird-eating noctule bats.

Conservation biologist Pedro Romero-Vidal, who investigates historical ecology through artwork, highlighted the anatomical precision of Brueghel’s depictions. He noted that many of the birds in the painting can be traced to South America, Africa and Oceania, and that the bats are rendered with identifiable features such as long ears and wing shape. Romero-Vidal consulted bat experts Sonia Sánchez-Navarro and Elena Tena, who confirmed that the illustrated bat matches characteristics of the greater noctule, a species known to prey on migrating songbirds.

The greater noctule’s predation was only recently documented through molecular analysis of bat droppings and ultralight biologging tags, which captured the bat’s mid-air capture and consumption of songbirds. While the painting does not reveal the specific bird species, the researchers suggest Brueghel may have observed the behavior directly, heard contemporary reports, or inferred it from other evidence. > "We believe it because he was a naturalist. He was a really good observer of nature," Romero-Vidal said.

The findings illustrate how historical artworks can complement modern scientific data, offering potential insights into the past distribution of exotic species and rare animal behaviors.