Austin might not have any theme parks or large zoos, but America's largest urban bat colony has become the city's best-known (and ecologically correct) tourist attraction.
It all started in 1980, when the team of engineers designing the Congress Avenue bridge unknowinlgly created the crevices that would soon become the home to the largest urban bat colony in North America.
More than 1.5 million bats emerge each night at dusk, as they have for more than two decades, from the bridge's underbelly on food runs that blacken the otherwise red sky. Look at the chart below for the best times to watch the bats, or get directions and a map to the Congress bridge.
Bats Flight Schedule
January - bats in Latin America
February - migration may begin
March - many bats in Austin
April - most have migrated
May - mothers prepare for birth
June - mothers give birth this month
July - mothers feed at night
August - pups can now fly
September - excellent bat watching
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