Study Finds 1611 Brueghel Painting Shows Early Bird-Eating Bats

According to Defector, researchers analyzing Jan Brueghel the Elder’s 1611 painting “Air” reported that it depicts a noctule bat carrying a bird, which could be the earliest visual record of predatory bats. The scholars identified three small mammals in the composition as greater noctule bats engaged in hunting behavior. They noted that this portrayal matches modern scientific evidence that some noctule species prey on birds.

The study was authored by Pedro Romero-Vidal, Sonia Sánchez-Navarro and Elena Tena. It was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.