Throughout North America, bats are the primary predators of nocturnal flying insects, providing millions of dollars in pest control services annually. Bats occur in nearly every habitat on the continent, from high elevation alpine forests to deserts and neighborhoods within our largest cities.

Because bats fly in the dark of night, it is challenging to understand their behaviors and monitor their population status.

To get around this challenge, biologists use bat detectors to better understand bat ecology. These devices record the echolocation calls of nearby bats, and combined with specialized software and expert knowledge, biologists can often identify bat species from these detections. Biologists deploy these detectors for one or more nights at locations across the continent throughout the year, and may monitor presence or activity of various bat species each night.