Bat Hawk is a very unique raptor in its behavior and they are physically adapted for the way they live and feed.

These amazing raptors have some fairly unique behavior. Most raptors actively hunt and feed during the day. They rely on light and thermals to assist in their hunting. The Bat Hawk deviates from this behaviour with a very specific and brief feeding period of the day.

As their name suggests, these birds feed mainly on bats. The issue for this species is that bats are not active during the day. For this reason, Bat Hawk is not active during the day. They sit perched in large trees for the entire day and in the case of the breeding season one of the birds sits on the nest while the other sits nearby.

When it comes time to feed, these birds head out at dusk to eat almost exclusively on bats. They will sometimes eat birds too but they mainly feed on bats. They also do not return to a perch to feed on their prey. Their catch is swallowed whole while flying. For this reason, Bat Hawk has the largest gape relative to its size of any raptor. This allows them to open their mouths particulalry wide in order to be able to swallow their prey.

Birds are far more adaptable than we give them credit for.