Bats of the Congress Avenue Bridge

Every year nearly 1 Million Mexican free-tailed bats call Austin home, typically arriving as the warm weather sets back in the Spring. They stay in Austin until early fall, and are the largest urban bat colony in North America. When in Austin, they camp out on downtown's Congress Avenue Bridge. Every summer night, hundreds of people gather to see the world's largest urban bat colony emerge from under the Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin, Texas. These 1.5 million bats are fun to watch, but they're also making our world a better place to live. You can stand on the bridge at dusk and watch the bats emerge as a black cloud against the sunset as they seek out their dinner. Be sure to ask the locals what time the bats are coming out, because our recent drought has them coming out earlier than usual.