Chiroptera Monthly
a newsletter for citizen scientists
May bat news!
We, the Izaak Walton League-Porter County Chapter, welcome our new Bat Adopters and are excited to see bats in our northwest Indiana night skies again.
One important way you can help protect and support bats is to NOT cut down any dead trees (if you can help it) now until October. Bats are using those as maternity roosts.
Family: Vespertilionidae
As the citizen scientists of NW Indiana begin to log their bat sightings on BAT WATCH 2020 with iNaturalist.org, we are learning a lot about how to use the 'project'. Here are a few tips to make your new observations easier to 'add to a project':
*ID the species as Vesper Bats (Family: Vespertilionidae)
(unless you can see their faces and know for sure which bat you saw)
Vesper Bats are the only bat 'family' found here in NW Indiana. That narrows the scope away from fruit bats, etc.
*You don't have to have a photograph to make an 'observation'. It will be considered a casual observation that has no photo proof. (If you are seeing a flying animal between twilight and pre-dawn, which is not a bird or flying squirrel, it's a bat.) If you're not sure about which animal you are seeing, wait a minute for a second pass over, bats will do that.
*If your 'observation' won't 'add to project' for BAT WATCH 2020 you might have to open that 'observation' on a computer instead of smartphone and choose the toggle that says 'alive' or 'dead' sighting. Then 'add observation to project'.
*If ANY (iNaturalist.org is not just for bats) observation you make fits the criteria of a collection project within iNaturalist's hub, it will be automatically shared with that project too.
Sign up for your FREE iNaturalist.org app today. Join PCC's 'BAT WATCH 2020' collection project. When you see a bat, make an entry to the project. You don't even have to know what type of bat you're seeing. We're even interested if you saw a dead bat, just don't touch it. We need team members across NW Indiana to collect sighting data on bats this year. It will help us get grants and offer scientific information that has been missing in our region. Anyone can do Citizen Science!
bat flight recorded!
how to spot a bat in flight
- Look at dusk, night, or at dawn: Bats are nocturnal, meaning they are active at night. At dusk, bats emerge into the night sky in search of food. It’s usually easiest to see bats just at dusk, when they are very active (because they are hungry!) but it’s still light enough to see them against a pale background sky. After dark, their fur makes them blend into the background of the night sky.
- Find spots near water: Insect-eating bats go where the bugs are, and many flying insects live near lakes, ponds, rivers, and canals. Bats also need to drink, and in dry areas the best place to see them may be where they come to drink. Bats tend to prefer slow-moving bodies of water rather than fast streams. It’s also easier to see bats over water. In thick forests, they blend easily into the background.
- Check out lampposts: Light attracts many insects, so bats will often hunt near sources of light.
Bat development
This is a photomicrograph of Black mastiff bat embryos (Molossus rufu) over time as they develop. Even at such a young age, you can clearly see the wing, tail and even toes on its leg develop across the pictures. This baby bat will eventually grow up to become an insectivorous bat, feeding on insects at night. Interestingly, bats are the only mammal that have achieved true flight.
Bats are the second most specious group of mammals (only behind rodents) and make up 20% of all known living mammals (Wund & Myers, 2005). However, there is still much we have yet to understand about these creatures of the night.
Black Bat flower
The beautiful Black Bat Flower, Tacca chantrieri, is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae. There are 10 species of bat flowers that differ in size, color and type of habitat where they can be found. Black bat flowers are native to tropical parts of southeastern Asia (China, Thailand and Burma). Jungle is natural habitat of black bat flowers. It provides high humidity, shade and well drained soil, which are all essential for the proper growth and development of the plant. People cultivate black bat flower because of its large, decorative leaves and unique type of flowers. Unfortunately, black bat flower is very rare in the wild and it cannot be cultivated easily because it can survive only under specific environmental conditions. Like many bats, Black bat flower is listed as endangered too.