Grey-headed flying fox
Pteropus poliocephalus Temminck, 1825
The grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) is a species in the family Pteropodidae, order Chiroptera. Recorded adults weigh 675 g to 749.9 g and live up to 23.6 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.
Quick facts about the grey-headed flying fox
- Weight
- 675 g – 749.9 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 23.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Frugivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 23.6 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 188 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 17.7 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Where does the grey-headed flying fox live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The grey-headed flying fox is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Why a country list is not a range map
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the grey-headed flying fox?
The grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) is a megabat native to Australia. The species shares mainland Australia with three other members of the genus Pteropus: the little red P. scapulatus, spectacled P. conspicillatus, and the black P. alecto. The grey-headed flying fox is the largest bat in Australia.
The grey-headed flying fox is endemic to the south-eastern forested areas of Australia, principally east of the Great Dividing Range. Its range extends approximately from Bundaberg in Queensland to Geelong in Victoria, with outlying colonies in Ingham and Finch Hatton in the north, and in Adelaide in the south. In the southern parts of its range it occupies more extreme latitudes than any other Pteropus species.
As of 2021, the species is listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and Australian Government's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act threatened species list.
From the Wikipedia article “Grey-headed flying fox” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grey-headed_flying_fox&oldid=1377195884), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the grey-headed flying fox endangered?
The grey-headed flying fox is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.
How is the grey-headed flying fox classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderChiroptera
- familyPteropodidae
- genusPteropus
- SpeciesPteropus poliocephalus Temminck, 1825
Other names and names in other languages (24)
- Gray-headed flying foxEnglish
- Gray-headed flying foxEnglish
- Grey-headed flying-foxEnglish
- Grey-headed flying-foxEnglish
- الثعلب الطائر رمادي الرأسArabic
- kaloň australskýCzech
- Graukopf-FlughundGerman
- FlugfuchsGerman
- Γκριζοκέφαλη Ιπτάμενη ΑλεπούGreek
- Zorro Volador de Cabeza GrisSpanish
- AustralianlenkkoFinnish
- Renard volant à tête griseFrench
- Pteropo dalla testa grigiaItalian
- Volpe volante dalla testa grigiaItalian
- ハイガシラオオコウモリJapanese
- 회색머리날여우박쥐Korean
- GråhodeflygehundNorwegian Bokmål
- GrijskopvleerhondDutch
- Rudawka szarogłowaPolish
- Raposa-Voadora-GrisalhaPortuguese
- Сероголовая летучая лисицаRussian
- Bozbaş KanatayakTurkish
- ngununyxdk
- 灰首狐蝠Chinese
Relatives of the grey-headed flying fox
Other species in the same genus Pteropus.
Large flying fox
Pteropus vampyrus
Giant fruit bat
Pteropus medius
Livingstone's fruit bat
Pteropus livingstonii
Mariana fruit bat
Pteropus mariannus
Rodrigues flying fox
Pteropus rodricensis
Samoa flying fox
Pteropus samoensis
CompareGrey-headed flying fox vs Large flying foxGrey-headed flying fox vs Giant fruit batGrey-headed flying fox vs Livingstone's fruit batGrey-headed flying fox vs Mariana fruit bat
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the grey-headed flying fox?
An adult grey-headed flying fox weighs 675 g – 749.9 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the grey-headed flying fox live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the grey-headed flying fox for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the grey-headed flying fox endangered?
The grey-headed flying fox is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
How long does the grey-headed flying fox live?
The grey-headed flying fox has a recorded lifespan of 23.6 years.
How long is the grey-headed flying fox pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 188 days.
What kind of animal is the grey-headed flying fox?
The grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) belongs to the family Pteropodidae in the order Chiroptera.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-headed-flying-fox
“Grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-headed-flying-fox.
@misc{grey_headed_flying_fox_2026,
title = {Grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-headed-flying-fox},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}