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“Common vampire bats can walk, hop, and even run on the ground using their wings and thumb claws.”
The common vampire bat is a small leaf-nosed bat of the Americas that feeds only on blood. It walks on the ground, shares meals with roost mates, and roosts in forests, caves, and hollow trees from Mexico to Argentina.
Desmodus rotundusChiropteraPhyllostomidae
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Core article
A closer look at habitat, diet, behavior, reproduction, and conservation.
The common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) is a small leaf-nosed bat and the only mammal that feeds exclusively on mammal blood. Found from northern Mexico through Central America into South America, it roosts by day in caves, hollow trees, and abandoned buildings, then flies out after dark to find sleeping livestock or wildlife. Far from the mythical creature of stories, this carnivore takes only a small nighttime meal, walks remarkably well on the ground, and even shares food with hungry roost mates — a rare cooperative behavior among mammals.
Vampire bats belong to the kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class Mammalia, and order Chiroptera (bats). Within the New World leaf-nosed bat family Phyllostomidae, the common vampire bat is classified in the genus Desmodus, species D. rotundus. It is one of three living vampire bat species; the other two, the hairy-legged and white-winged vampire bats, prefer bird blood more often.
Sanguivory — feeding on blood — evolved only once in bats and nowhere else among living mammals. Fossil and molecular evidence place vampire bats within the diverse Phyllostomidae radiation of the Americas. Over time, Desmodus lost a typical fruit- or insect-eating toolkit and gained heat-sensing facial pits, razored upper incisors, and anticoagulant saliva specialized for a liquid diet.
Adult common vampire bats are small: body length is about 2.5 to 3.5 inches (6–9 cm), weight usually 1 to 2 ounces (25–40 g), and wingspan roughly 13 to 14 inches (33–35 cm). Fur is gray-brown, the snout is short and blunt rather than long, and the nose leaf is reduced compared with many relatives.
Key tools for feeding sit on the face and in the mouth. Pits near the nose detect infrared warmth, helping the bat find spots where blood vessels run close to the skin. Blade-like upper incisors shear a shallow wound without deep piercing. Grooved tongues and saliva containing anticoagulants and mild anesthetics let the bat lap blood while keeping flow steady and the host often undisturbed.
Unlike most bats, common vampires are agile on the ground. Strong thumb claws and folded wings act like crutches so the animal can walk, hop, and even run toward a sleeping host or escape danger on the roost floor.
Desmodus rotundus ranges from northern Mexico through Central America and across much of South America to northern Argentina and Uruguay. It favors warm climates and is scarce in cold highlands and the far southern cone. Daytime roosts include caves, mine shafts, hollow trees, and quiet human structures; at night, bats forage over forest, pasture, and woodland edges where mammals sleep.
Colonies may hold a few dozen to several hundred individuals. Females often form stable associations, while males defend access to groups. Because livestock create reliable nighttime targets, vampire bats are frequently found near farms as well as wild forest landscapes.
The common vampire bat is an obligate sanguivore, recorded in WildlifeDB under the carnivore diet type because it consumes animal tissue (blood) rather than plants. A successful night yields roughly a tablespoon or two of blood — enough calories for the bat without draining the host dry.
Hunting is nocturnal. The bat lands near a sleeping mammal — often cattle, horses, goats, or pigs, and sometimes wild mammals — approaches on foot, and uses heat sensing to pick a thin-skinned spot such as an ankle or ear. After a tiny cut, it laps blood for about 20 to 30 minutes. If a bat fails to feed for about two nights, starvation risk rises sharply, which helps explain the species’ famous food-sharing behavior.
Common vampire bats are highly social. Within roosts, females groom one another and will regurgitate blood meals to help unsuccessful colony mates. Laboratory and field studies show that sharing often follows social bonds: bats that have received help before are more likely to help in return.
They navigate in darkness with echolocation and stay alert to predators such as owls and snakes. On the ground their walking gait is unique among bats, allowing quiet approaches to sleeping animals. Colony members return to familiar roosts and maintain ties that can last years.
Breeding can occur year-round in many tropical parts of the range. Gestation lasts about seven months. Most births are single pups, though twins are rare. Newborns nurse on milk; as they grow, they may receive shared regurgitated meals from the mother or close associates while learning to forage.
Pups cling to the mother and remain dependent for weeks to months until night flights and hunting skills mature. Wild lifespan is often around 9 to 12 years; individuals in human care have lived longer. Because mothers invest heavily in one pup at a time, colony cooperation improves offspring survival when food nights are uneven.
(Population and conservation trend data sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species)
The IUCN Red List evaluates the common vampire bat as Least Concern, with a broadly stable and widespread population across the Americas.
Threats are mainly human conflict rather than global rarity. In ranching regions, vampire bats may be controlled because they reduce livestock productivity and can transmit rabies virus in some areas. Habitat change, roost disturbance, and persecution can reduce local colonies. Public health programs that vaccinate livestock and carefully manage problem roosts are more effective long-term tools than indiscriminate bat killing, which can harm beneficial insect-eating species.
Common vampire bats can walk, hop, and even run on the ground using their wings and thumb claws.
They sense warmth with special pits on their nose to find good feeding spots on sleeping animals.
Roost mates share meals by regurgitation if a bat misses a night of feeding.
Their saliva contains anticoagulants that keep a tiny wound from clotting while they feed.
Only three living bat species drink blood; Desmodus rotundus is the most widespread.
A night’s meal is usually a tablespoon or two of blood — enough for the bat, not a full draining.
Select a question to reveal the answer.
The common vampire bat (*Desmodus rotundus*) is a small leaf-nosed bat native to the Americas. It is one of three living vampire bat species and the only one that mainly feeds on mammal blood.
They live in tropical and subtropical forests, caves, hollow trees, and abandoned buildings from northern Mexico through Central America into northern Argentina and Chile’s border areas.
They are carnivores that feed only on blood (a diet called sanguivory). At night they find sleeping livestock or wildlife, make a tiny shallow cut with sharp teeth, and lap a small amount of blood.
No. They do not suck blood through hollow fangs like movie vampires. They make a small cut and lick or lap blood from the surface, helped by saliva that slows clotting.
Feeding on people is uncommon. The bigger public-health concern is that vampire bats can carry rabies in some regions, so wildlife officials monitor colonies near farms and treat livestock when needed.
They fly low at night, use smell and hearing, then use heat-sensing pits on the nose to find warm body spots such as ankles or ears of sleeping animals.
A bat that fails to feed for two nights in a row can starve. Colony mates — especially females — regurgitate blood meals for hungry roost partners, which strengthens social bonds.
Adults are about 2.5 to 3.5 inches (6–9 cm) long, weigh roughly 1 to 2 ounces (25–40 g), and have a wingspan near 13 to 14 inches (33–35 cm).
The common vampire bat is listed as Least Concern. Local control campaigns exist where livestock losses or rabies are a problem, but the species remains widespread.
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