Bats get new hangout at Los Jilgueros Preserve

FALLBROOK – Visitors to Los Jilgueros Preserve are often rewarded with sightings of hawks, herons, coots and other local birds drawn to the 46-acre wildlife habitat on South Mission Road, just south of town. And if all goes well, another winged creature, the bat, will soon find a home here – six of them, to be exact.

The half-dozen bat houses or “boxes” were recently installed along the preserve’s 1.5-mile loop trail by Shawn Ricks, 17, an Eagle Scout candidate with local Troop 725. Guided by Mike Peters, executive director of the Fallbrook Land Conservancy, Ricks recently completed the Boy Scout leadership project, which took less than 10 hours with the help of his crew of 19 volunteers.

Constructed from heavy-duty plywood, the bat boxes measure nearly three feet tall and contain four roosting chambers each. To help make them easier for bats to find, they are mounted back-to-back in pairs atop three, 15-foot-high poles, which are installed in an area adjacent to the preserve’s wetlands “where the bugs like to hang out,” Ricks said.

A protected species in California, bats benefit the ecosystem through insect control and plant pollination. Yet, many bat species worldwide are experiencing population declines, mainly due to human disturbance and loss of habitat, according to the California Department of Fish and Game. The construction of bat houses is encouraged by the CDFG as one way to help ensure the species’ survival.

A senior at High Tech High in San Marcos, Ricks is the 30th Eagle Scout candidate to complete a project on preserves owned and maintained by the FLC. He sold home-baked fruit pies at his church to help raise the funds to build the new bat habitat, which cost upwards of $500. Additional monies were also donated by the Angel Society of Fallbrook, a local philanthropy.

The new bat boxes join several other man-made wildlife habitats located at Los Jilgueros. These include boxes for owls and kestrels, as well as perches for other birds of prey. Strategically placed rock piles in the preserve attract snakes, rodents, rabbits and weasels, with large clay pipes giving additional shelter to small animals. Trimmings from the preserve’s Firescape Garden are used to create “brush” piles for quail and other birds. Several projects by the preserve’s Native Plant and Wildflower Team have even included building a native bee habitat and structure.

The team, which meets at the preserve every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m., is currently seeking volunteers. For more information about volunteering or how to become a member of the FLC, visit http://www.fallbrooklandconservancy.org, email [email protected] or call (760) 728-0889. For more information about bat conservation, visit

http://www.batcon.org.