Be a Bat Biologist

Watch for bats during the early hours of night as the sun sets. Bats emerge 30 minutes past sunset and are easiest to see at twilight. Install and monitor a bat house (multi-chambered is best, do some research on best design and location). Sign up for a batwalk with the Alberta Community Bat Program!

Alberta has nine species of bats and not all respond to artificial light in the same way. A few species will hunt around streetlights taking advantage of the patches of insects that can form. Others shy from light and prefer to hunt in the shadows. For these species, lights can actually create barriers to movement resulting in fragmented habitats and possibly reducing food availability if they can’t reach insect rich sites. Light can also draw insect prey away from dark areas, reducing the hunting opportunities for these little shadow-dwellers.

Be a citizen scientist and send us bat guano or conduct a bat roost exit count just after the sun sets! Register with www.albertabats.ca to submit your data to a province-wide monitoring program. Watch for hunting bats in the night sky, record the place and time and submit observations to www.batwatch.ca or for other observations of Alberta bats use our iNaturalist project page and submit your information!