This is the time of year spooky plastic bats decorate shop windows and apartment doorways. But there are real bats swooping through the city at night. NY1's Lindsey Christ filed the following report: 

Scientists have discovered five species of bats living in the Bronx.

"It was very surprising because we are in the largest mega-city in the United States and we didn't expect to find that many," says Coleen McCann, curator of mammals at the Bronx Zoo.

"We did expect to find maybe one species. The Big Brown Bat is considered the typical urban bat you do find, and while that is here, that is not the most common bat." 

Researchers from Fordham University and the Wildlife Conservation Society found wild populations living in the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden, the Rose Hill campus at Fordham University, and the Belmont neighborhood. The Bronx bats live in trees, not caves.  

Experts say the presence of bats is a testament to the green spaces available in the borough.

"Bats are known to adapt to urban environments. And what we found is out of the nine species that occur in New York State, five of them occur right here in the Bronx, which is pretty exciting," explained Bronx Zoo Curator of Mammals Colleen McCann.

The study was the first-ever published about bats in the city.

It turns out the Eastern Red Bat was the most frequently detected species in the Bronx.

Researchers used ultrasonic sound recording equipment to identify the animals and track their activity. "Since we can't hear the calls because it's above our hearing range, the recorder makes it audible for us," McCann says.

The researchers recorded most of the bats' calls at dawn and at dusk, which is when the winged mammals feed. 

"When we come across that chirpy sound, we look around and then you can usually find the bats flying around. Basically they're swooping down, trying to find insects. So you're catching them feeding," says McCann. 

Bats don't have the best reputation. Many people find them creepy. And even spooky. 

"There are a lot of myths about them. So one of the myths is that they suck your blood, right?" says McCann.

"They don't, except three species out of over 1,200 species are vampire bats, and they occur in Latin America. 

After finding so many types of bats in the Bronx, the scientists have expanded their research to include the rest of the city. And sure enough, all five types of bats have been heard at the Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo. 

So watch out this Halloween: Gotham is home to a whole host of winged creatures of the night. In the Bronx, Lindsey Christ, NY1.