Brueghel's 1611 Painting Captures Bat Eating Bird, Predating Scientific Proof by 400 Years
Updated
Updated · Nautilus · Jun 30
Brueghel's 1611 Painting Captures Bat Eating Bird, Predating Scientific Proof by 400 Years
3 articles · Updated · Nautilus · Jun 30
Summary
A bat clutching a small bird in Jan Brueghel the Elder’s 1611 “Allegory of Air” may be the earliest known depiction of bird-eating behavior by a greater noctule bat.
More than 60 bird species appear in the painting, and researchers argue the upper-right bat was drawn from observation because Brueghel depicted other bats elsewhere without prey.
The case fits modern biology: greater noctules are active during nighttime bird migrations, and a 2001 droppings study had already found feathers, though direct scientific confirmation came only recently.
Brueghel likely encountered the species in Italy rather than Belgium, and the finding, published in PNAS, underscores how historical art can preserve overlooked natural-history evidence.