BATS–Use of Sound

We’re listening to the sounds of a colony of Mexican Free Tailed bats getting ready for their nightly flight in search of insects to feed on. Bats use a broad spectrum of sound to communicate and to find their way. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.

We have no idea what the bats are saying, but they’re probably holding conversations not that dissimilar from some we hold: ‘Ouch you’re getting too close!’ ‘I’m sleepy leave me alone.'”

Merlin Tuttle is the Director and Founder of Bat Conservation International. He tells us that although it’s not known exactly what the bats are saying to each other, it seems clear that they share information about food sources.

“We know very little about communication in bats, but it’s obvious that they do communicate because they may travel for two or three weeks in a row, exclusively in one direction and then all of a sudden one night, hundreds of thousands take off in an entirely new direction. Obviously somebody told them about good dining.”

Bats also produce sounds that human ears can’t hear— high pitched echolocation signals which enable them to detect objects in their environment.

“Each one of these bats as it flies over is producing about 10 beeps of sound every second. We call that echolocation. As it detects a moth or another insect to capture, it then speeds that rate up to about 200 beeps per second. (109) We believe that most bats use ultrasound primarily to navigate and and locate prey and lower frequency sounds to communicate amongst themselves. But that’s simply a scientist’s belief. We could be very wrong.”

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.

BATS--Use of Sound

Which kinds of bat sounds are used for communication, and which allow them to detect their surroundings?
Air Date:04/27/1999
Scientist:
Transcript:

We're listening to the sounds of a colony of Mexican Free Tailed bats getting ready for their nightly flight in search of insects to feed on. Bats use a broad spectrum of sound to communicate and to find their way. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.

We have no idea what the bats are saying, but they're probably holding conversations not that dissimilar from some we hold: 'Ouch you’re getting too close!' 'I'm sleepy leave me alone.'"

Merlin Tuttle is the Director and Founder of Bat Conservation International. He tells us that although it's not known exactly what the bats are saying to each other, it seems clear that they share information about food sources.

"We know very little about communication in bats, but it's obvious that they do communicate because they may travel for two or three weeks in a row, exclusively in one direction and then all of a sudden one night, hundreds of thousands take off in an entirely new direction. Obviously somebody told them about good dining."

Bats also produce sounds that human ears can't hear--- high pitched echolocation signals which enable them to detect objects in their environment.

"Each one of these bats as it flies over is producing about 10 beeps of sound every second. We call that echolocation. As it detects a moth or another insect to capture, it then speeds that rate up to about 200 beeps per second. (109) We believe that most bats use ultrasound primarily to navigate and and locate prey and lower frequency sounds to communicate amongst themselves. But that's simply a scientist's belief. We could be very wrong."

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner.