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What Do Bats
Sound Like?
Photo: G. Bradley |
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UK
Safari Tip:
Most bats fly after sunset so it's difficult to see them. A bat detector allows
you to hear and identify the ones you sometimes can't see - click
here
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Although bats use echolocation to detect their prey,
and find their way around in the dark, the sounds which they emit are
'ultrasonic', which is another way of saying they are beyond the range of normal
human hearing. To help us listen to them, we can use a bat detector.
 A bat detector is a machine which listens to the ultrasonic sounds made by
bats, and then converts them into sounds we can hear. Usually this comes
out as a series of bleeps, clicks, pops and whistles. Each species produces a
slightly different sound.
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The bat detector has a frequency dial which can be tuned into the bat, just as
you would tune a radio into your favourite station.
By reading off the frequency on the dial when you hear the bat you can identify
the species.
Hear a Bat Call
• Click
here for the MP3 - 111 KB
• Click here
for the WAV - 303 KB
If you listen to the call in the sound clip above you'll notice that the speed
of the clicks vary in speed. Sometimes they become so rapid it sounds like someone blowing a raspberry. This
is the sound of the bat's echo getting shorter and shorter as it closes in on a moth or
fly.
Bat Identification Charts
Bat Calls on CD - Learn to Identify Different Species
Bat Detectors
UK Safari Bat Section
What is a bat?
What is Echolocation?
What is a tragus?
Links to Bat Groups in Britain
Bat Conservation Trust national (UK) helpline: 0845 130 0228 (9am to 1pm, 2pm to 5:30pm Mon - Fri except Bank Holidays.
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