 About Congress Bridge Bats
The Congress Avenue Bridge spans Town Lake in downtown Austin and is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America. The colony is estimated at 1.5 million Mexican
free-tail bats. Each night from mid-March to November, the bats emerge from under the bridge at dusk to blanket the sky as they head out to forage for food.
This event has become one of the most spectacular and unusual tourist attractions in Texas. The most spectacular bat flights are during hot, dry August nights, when
multiple columns of bats emerge. There are several points from which to view the event, and an information kiosk is located on the north bank of the river, just east of the
bridge.
Four Great Ways to
View the Bats
 1. Capital
Cruises Bat
Watching
Tours
Capital
Cruises
Austin is
home of the
Largest
Electric
Paddle Wheel
Boat in the
Country and
the now
famous
Sunset Bat
Watching
excursion.
This tour
fills up
nearly every
night during
bat season
and
reservations
at
are highly
recommended.
Prices are
$10 for
adults, $8
for seniors,
and $5 for
kids.
Visit
Capital
Cruises
listing
to learn
more or
you can use
this link to
buy tickets
now.
 2. Kayak Bat Watching
Tours from Live Love
Paddle
In the heat
of the
summer,
watching the
bats from
Austin's
Live Love
Paddle
kayak tour
is the way
to go.
Tours start
at Joe's Crab
Shack on Lady Bird Lake where you kayak up the lake to see the
bats emerge. Each group receives a free
appetizer card from Joe's Crab Shack, which is a nice place to
dine after. The
minimum weight on
bat-watching tours
is 30 lbs and maximum weight
is 275 lbs.
These tours are
currently available
on Wednesday -
Sunday evenings at 7:15pm.
Tour
minimums may apply. Prices are
$35 per
person and tandem boats
are
available.
Reservations for
Live Love Paddle Bat
Tours require 3
hours notice.
 3.
"Bativities" Bike
Tour from Austin
Cycle School
Austin Cycle
School's Bativities
tours includes
your choice of
several downtown
activities and
sightseeing before
ending up at
Congress Bridge to
see the bats emerge.
You can play tennis,
volley ball, frisbee
golf, pitch and
putt, see the
Capitol, 6th Street,
Barton Springs Pool,
and more before your
bat stop.
Prices are $35 per
person and space it
limited to 4 people
per night.
Reservations are
recommended.
 4.
SegCity
Segway Bat Watching
Tours
If
you want to
catch the
bats in
style and
skip the
exercise, we'd
recommend a
bat watching
tour from
SegCity.
They'll gear
you up and
teach you
how to ride
a segway,
take you for
a spin
around
downtown
Austin
including
the Texas
Capitol
building,
Sixth
Street, and
finish up
with a great
view of the
Congress
Bridge Bats
nightly
departure.
Prices are
$85 per
person and tours
tend to fill
up on the
weekends.
Online
reservations
are
available.
Interesting Bat Facts
-
The bats provide a valuable service to the Austin community by consuming between 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects nightly!
-
Bats can live to be 30 years old.
-
Mother bats give birth to a single pup each year. The pups birth weight is nearly 1/3 that of its mother.
-
Bats are mammals and nurse the pups from mammary glands. Each female recognizes her pups voice and smell and will nurse only her pup.
-
During migrations to Mexico and back, bats may reach an altitude of 10,000 feet and velocities of 60 miles per hour.
For more information about the Congress Avenue Bat Colony or bats in general, please contact: Bat Conservation
International
P.O. Box 162603
Austin, Texas 78716
(512) 327-9721 |
