Bat calls

The kind of sound made by a bat can help in identifying the species you are observing.

The table above is a rough guide only, as the characteristics of a bat call are strongly affected by its environment.  A bat flying in the open doesn't need to repeat so quickly, and can use a longer duration call.

Links to files no longer available have been removed; however it is hoped soon to provide a range of recordings of bats made by our members, using all three detector types.

The files below are recordings of bat calls using a time expansion detector set to a factor of ten; so the sounds you hear are ten times slower than the actual call, making the frequency ten times lower. They also last ten times longer.

Thanks to Philip Briggs of the Bat Conservation Trust for providing the above files and permission to provide them for non-profit use.