A 17th-century artist may have known a secret that scientists have only just confirmed

The painting in question is *Air* by the Flemish artist Jan Brueghel the Elder, painted in 1611. At first glance, it is an allegorical painting featuring gods, birds and creatures of the air. But in the top right-hand corner, researchers spotted something unusual: a bat, which appears to be holding a songbird.

The study has been published in the *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences*.

The most interesting thing is that scientists were only able to directly confirm this behaviour in the 21st century. The greater noctule — Europe’s largest bat — can indeed catch small migratory birds in mid-air and eat them without landing.

What they found in an old painting

Researchers from Pedro Romero-Vidal’s team studied the animals depicted in historical paintings. In Bruegel’s painting, they counted more than 60 species of birds and several bats. But one of them turned out to be particularly strange: it was depicted with a small bird in its mouth.

Based on its body shape, long wings, rounded ears and reddish-brown colouring, the scientists suggested that the artist may have depicted the common noctule — Nyctalus lasiopterus. This is the largest bat in Europe.

In the painting, it is a tiny detail. Yet it is precisely this detail that makes Bruegel’s work unexpectedly significant not only for art historians, but also for biologists.

Why this has become a scientific mystery

For a long time, it was thought that most European bats fed on insects. But in the early 2000s, researchers began to find songbird feathers in the droppings of the greater noctule. This suggested that the animals might eat birds, but the main question remained: exactly how do they catch them?

It is almost impossible to witness such a hunt first-hand. It takes place at night, high in the air, during bird migration. Consequently, for decades, scientists had only indirect evidence: feathers, DNA and traces in the droppings.

It was not until 2025 that researchers obtained direct confirmation. Miniature sensors and microphones were fitted to bats. They recorded a greater noctule diving towards a migratory bird, snatching it mid-air and then eating its prey whilst in flight.

What Bruegel might have known

The painting is not a scientific record. Scientists do not claim that Bruegel himself witnessed a bat hunting at night. It is highly unlikely that he could have observed such a scene directly: the greater noctule hunts at night and high in the air.

However, the artist may have learnt of this behaviour in other ways. He travelled through Italy, where the common noctule is found. Furthermore, people may have noticed indirect clues: for example, feathers in bat droppings or the remains of prey. Science News quotes a researcher’s view that people of that time may have known about birds in these bats’ diet precisely from such traces.

Why is this so unusual?

Old paintings are often perceived as symbolic. In 17th-century paintings, animals could symbolise the elements, virtues, sins, power, exoticism or the divine order. But this study shows that even an allegorical painting can contain accurate observations of nature.

In the case of *Air*, Bruegel did not simply depict abstract birds and bats. Many of the species in the painting are recognisable. Among them are parrots, swans, a turkey, an ostrich and other birds. Against this backdrop, the bat with its prey does not appear to be a random fantasy, but rather a possible biological reference.

What is the greater noctule?

The greater noctule is the largest bat in Europe. Unlike many other species, it is capable of hunting not only insects but also small migratory birds. This is particularly important in autumn and spring, when millions of birds migrate at night between Europe and Africa.

Recent research has shown that these bats can hunt at altitudes of over a kilometre. They catch up with a bird in mid-air, seize it and can eat it whilst still in flight, without landing.

To the human eye, this seems almost unbelievable: a small nocturnal mammal hunting a bird in the dark sky. Yet this is precisely what modern sensors have confirmed.

Why the painting does not ‘prove’ the bats’ diet

It is important not to overinterpret this. Bruegel’s painting is not, in itself, proof that the greater noctule eats birds. Scientific confirmation has come from modern research: analysis of droppings, DNA, motion sensors and audio recordings of hunts.

But the painting may be an early artistic record of such behaviour. And that is what makes it valuable: it shows that observations of nature could have found their way into art hundreds of years before science had the technical means to verify them.

In other words, the artist may have observed or recognised something that biologists were only able to prove four centuries later.

Why this discovery is important

The study shows that museums and digital archives can be useful not only to art historians. Old paintings, drawings and engravings sometimes preserve information about animals, plants, landscapes and the behaviour of species.

When collections are digitised in high resolution, scientists are able to examine details that were previously easy to overlook. The authors of the study suggest that old paintings may also conceal other observations of nature that no one has yet recognised.

This does not mean that every painting should be read as a biological reference work. But it does mean that art can be an additional source of data — particularly where written or scientific observations are lacking.

Background

Jan Brueghel the Elder was one of the most famous Flemish artists of the early 17th century. His paintings are often rich in a multitude of small details: animals, plants, objects, symbols and scenes from mythology.

The painting ‘Air’ belongs to the genre of allegories of the elements. It depicts a world of creatures associated with the sky and flight. Therefore, the presence of bats in such a painting is logical. What proved unexpected was not the bat itself, but the fact that one of them is probably depicted holding a captured bird.

Source

Study: Pedro Romero-Vidal et al., “Natural history on canvas: Brueghel knew about bird-eating noctule bats”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2026.