The world's largest urban bat colony lives in the gaps beneath the road deck of the Congress Avenue Bridge spanning Lady Bird Lake in Austin. Migrating each Spring from central Mexico, approximately 750,000 Mexican Free Tailed bats (all females) create a "nursery" at the north end of the bridge. With the birth of their offsprings (called "pups"), the numbers swell to 1.5 million. These small bats ( having eleven inch wing spans) tend to live for only 8-9 years. The bridge where they make their summer home was originally built in 1869 as a pontoon toll bridge. A new wooden bridge was constructed in 1875, only to be replaced by a more modern iron bridge in 1884. As one of the top tourist attractions in Austin (bringing in an estimated eight million visitors yearly), this spectacular bat event starts each evening just before sunset and can take upwards of two to three hours for all the bats to begin their nocturnal feeding routine.
Gaps under the toad deck of the Congress Avenue Bridge serves as the nursery for the bats...
...which begin to go food hunting st sunset .
It is amazing to see them swarm above the city.
A statue of the Mexican Free Tailed bat is located at one end of the bridge.
During the summer months, this event draws huge crowds that fill every space on the bridge...
...most of the ground just below the bridge...
...and even on the water of Lady Bird Lake.
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