N. grandis can be easily distinguished by its size, as it is substantially larger than other members of the Nycteridae family.

It spends the day taking shelter and roosting in trees, caves, or buildings, and it is a nocturnal species.

[4] N. grandis produces low-intensity echolocation calls at high frequencies, which makes them nearly inaudible except at close range.

It tends to be limited to Savannah woodlands and rainforests, especially the coastal forests of East Africa.

Some examples of trees in which N. grandis tends to roost are Acacia aldiba, Adansonia digitata, and Mitragyna stipulosa.

[7] When living in captivity, these bats roost in artificial structures such as houses, culverts, and water towers.

[4] As this species is strong, it preys on other bats, birds, scorpions, sun spiders, frogs, and even grabs fish near the surface of the water.

As mentioned, these bats are opportunistic predators, so geographical variation and changes in rainfall have a tremendous impact on their diet.