Pipistrellus pygmaeus
Silhouette: Evgeniy Yakhontov · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) is a small species of bat. It is found in Europe and often roosts on buildings. Until 1999, the soprano pipistrelle was considered as conspecific with the common pipistrelle. It is possible that these two species diverged from one another in the Mediterranean, resulting in the soprano pipistrelle having the ability to thermoregulate at temperatures as high as 40 degrees Celsius. Since the two species were split, a number of other differences, in appearance, habitat and food, have also been discovered. The two species were first distinguished on the basis of the different frequency of their echolocation calls. The common pipistrelle uses a call of 45 kHz, while the soprano pipistrelle echolocates at 55 kHz. The soprano pipistrelle is also known as the 55 kHz pipistrelle and the brown pipistrelle.
The soprano pipistrelle is known to roost throughout Europe in rooftops and houses. One study, by Lourneco and Palmeirim, suggested that the reason for a preference for rooftops was because of the available thermal differences throughout a roof. Although soprano pipistrelles can thermoregulate up to... Wikipedia →
Recording0:50
France · 2026
© Denis Forzy · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
Recording1:03
United Kingdom · 2025
Alison JC Brown · iNaturalist · CC0
Recording0:05
United Kingdom · 2026
© brook1951 · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pygmy Pipistrelle sighting in Copenhagen on a given day, based on 23 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 9th most-seen of the 10 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pygmy Pipistrelle in Copenhagen on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and September–April, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pygmy Pipistrelle sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Only Copenhagen, in our data
Copenhagen is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Pygmy Pipistrelle sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pygmy Pipistrelle is recorded against all the mammals logged in Copenhagen (23 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
