With all of us stuck at home on Friday evenings, there is no better way to unwind from the week than to relax on a warm night watching our volant, nocturnal friends fluttering in the sky. Yes, you guessed it, I’m talking about our backyard bats!
When I tell folks that I study bats, many recount fond memories of seeing a number of bats in their backyards foraging for insects on summer evenings. These often-misunderstood animals are extremely beneficial to forests and agriculture in North America, as even an average size colony of bats can consume over 1 million insect pests per year!1 Today, many backyard bat watchers have noticed a decrease in the number of their bat visitors. Indeed, a number of North American hibernating bat species are severely declining due to an invasive fungal species that causes White-nose Syndrome.2 Now more than ever, monitoring of bat populations is needed.
One way wildlife biologists study bats is by acoustic monitoring. This technology allows us to record, visualize and analyze bat echolocation calls. The unique signatures of the calls can help us distinguish among the bat species that call Connecticut home.
Join me for an evening of virtual bat acoustic monitoring October 9, 2020 at 7:00 PM! During this interactive virtual experience, we will go bat acoustic monitoring and learn how it works. Then participants will receive online resources to learn how to ID bat acoustics calls and participate in a friendly bat acoustic call competition. We will close out the evening by getting to know our local bat species and learn about their natural history. All are welcome. Register here.
~Laura Cisneros
1Kunz, T.H., Braun de Torrez, E., Bauer, D., Lobova, T. & Fleming, T.H. (2011) Ecosystem services provided by bats. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1223, 1–38.
2U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (2014) The devastating disease of hibernating bats in North America. Available at: https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/sites/default/files/resource/white-nose_fact_sheet_6-2014_1.pdf.