Which bats migrate

S and in Canada, most of the bats species living there will migrate south in the winter. Very few species will actually be able to survive the subfreezing temperature of the north. Bats that live in bat houses will most probably move into an isolated cave or an abandoned mine. The bats that sleep in trees will travel south just like different birds. The most likely bat to stay in during the winter is the Big Brown Bat, and that is because of its hardiness.

Moreover, the bats that might spend the winter in bat houses are the ones that inhabit the southernmost area of the northern section. Go back to the How to get rid of bats home page. Need bat removal in your hometown? We service over USA locations! Click here to hire us in your town and check prices - updated for year Wildlife Animal Control is an educational resource for nuisance animal issues.

We also provide professional service in over locations. Migratory bat stopover in the long-distance migrant silver-haired bat, Lasionycteris noctivagans. Journal of Animal Ecology 81, — PubMed Google Scholar. Baerwald, E. Origins of migratory patterns of bats killed by wind turbines in southern Alberta: evidence from stable isotopes. Ecosphere 5, 1—17 Continental-scale, seasonal movements of a heterothermic migratory tree bat. Ecological Applications 24, — Seasonal changes in diets of migrant and non-migrant nectarivorous bats as revealed by carbon stable isotope analysis.

Oecologia 94, 72—75 Fraser, E. Evidence of latitudinal migration in tri-colored bats, Perimyotis subflavus. Voigt, C. The catchment area of wind farms for European bats: a plea for international regulations. Biological Conservation , 80—86 Richter, H. First application of satellite telemetry to track African straw-coloured fruit bat migration. Journal of Zoology , — Smith, C. Satellite telemetry and long-range bat movements. In Biology of bats Vol. Shump, K. Lasiurus cinereus.

Mammalian Species , 1—5 Dalquest, W. Seasonal distribution of the hoary bat along the Pacific Coast. Murrelet 24, 21—24 In Bats in forests: conservation and management eds Lacki, M. Sex differences in the thermoregulation and evaporative water loss of a heterothermic bat, Lasiurus cinereus , during its spring migration.

Journal of Experimental Biology , — Evidence of late-summer mating readiness and early sexual maturation in migratory tree-roosting bats found dead at wind turbines.

Davis, W. Responses of bats from temperate regions to changes in ambient temperature. Biological Bulletin , — Willis, C. Deep, prolonged torpor by pregnant, free-ranging bats. Naturwissenschaften 93, 80—83 Mormann, B. Winter roosting ecology of eastern red bats in southwest Missouri. Journal of Wildlife Management 71, — Saugey, D. Notes on the natural history of Lasiurus borealis in Arkansas.

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 52, 92—98 Czenze, Z. Staying cold through dinner: Cold-climate bats rewarm with conspecifics but not sunset during hibernation. Journal of Comparative Physiology B , — Jonasson, K. Hibernation energetics of free-ranging little brown bats. Reeder, D. Frequent arousal from hibernation linked to severity of infection and mortality in bats with white-nose syndrome. Hope, P. Speakman, J. In Bat ecology eds Kunz, T. Geiser, F. Hibernation and torpor in tropical and subtropical bats in relation to energetics, extinctions, and the evolution of endothermy.

Integrative and Comparative Biology 51, — Arnett, E. Frick, W. An emerging disease causes regional population collapse of a common North American bat species. Science , —, doi: Castle, K. Using sutures to attach miniature tracking tags to small bats for multimonth movement and behavioral studies.

Ecology and Evolution 5, — Sikes, R. Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the use of wild mammals in research. Journal of Mammalogy 92, — Download references. We are grateful to the California State Parks, North Coast Redwood District for granting us access and permission to conduct this study. We thank A. Brokaw, J. Clerc, T.

Dewey, B. Fahey, M. Lau, C. Long, M. McKenzie, S. Mendia, M. Parker, K. Southall, V. Stover, J. Szewczak, and C. Zurek for invaluable assistance in the field. Baldwin prepared the figure on arousal times. Until recently, migration in bats had mostly been studied in temperate regions of North America and Europe where migratory behavior is closely associated with hibernation.

Results of those studies indicate that temperate bats exhibit three broad patterns of spatial behavior: i sedentary nonmigratory behavior in which bats breed and hibernate within a km radius or less; ii regional migration in which bats migrate — km between summer and winter roosts; and iii long-distance migrants in which bats migrate km or more between seasonal roosts Fleming and Eby, Examples of European sedentary taxa include species of Eptesicus , Plecotus , and Rhinolophus and certain species of Myotis.

Their North American counterparts include Eptesicus fuscus , Corynorhinus rafinesquii , and Antrozous pallidus. European regional migrants include several species of Myotis , and North American taxa include several species of Myotis and Pipistrellus or Perimyotis subflavus.

European long-distance migrants include several species of Nyctalus as well as two species of Pipistrellus and Vespertilio murinus. Although they migrate relatively long distances between summer and winter roosts, they do so within, rather than between, continents, unlike many European migratory birds which are intercontinental migrants. With the possible exception of Lasiurus species, these taxa are also intracontinental migrants.

Unlike other temperate migrants, these species do not hibernate but see Weller et al. As is the case in birds, temperate zone long-distance migrant bats tend to differ morphologically from more sedentary species and are adapted for rapid, energetically efficient flight Norberg and Rayner, They have wings with high aspect ratios i.

As a result, most insectivorous long-distance migrants forage in uncluttered air space away from vegetation where slow, highly maneuverable flight is not needed. In addition, many long-distance migrants e. Exceptions to this include North American T. Not all individuals of species of temperate migratory bats undergo seasonal migrations. Partial migration in which some populations are sedentary whereas others are migratory occurs in a number of species, including long-distance migrants.

In Europe, partial migrants include species of Nyctalus and Pipistrellus and V. In North America, partial migrants include Lasiurus cinereus , L. In Europe, sedentary populations of P. A situation similar to that of V. Regardless of the distances involved, most temperate zone migratory bats undergo a characteristic annual physiological and reproductive cycle that is closely tied to hibernation.

This cycle includes hyperphagia and fat deposition in the fall and mating in the fall or winter. Also, unlike birds, bats must use most of the fat they deposit prior to or during migration as a fuel source during hibernation Herlekar, Conservation of stored fat for use during hibernation is an important reason why many temperate bats migrate relatively short distances.

Finally, the annual reproductive cycle of temperate bats usually involves mating in the fall prior to hibernation. In some species e. In other species e. After mating, females of hibernating species store viable sperm in their oviducts during the winter and ovulate and undergo fertilization in the spring prior to migrating to their summer maternity roosts. In nonhibernating long-distance migrants such as Lasiurus borealis , L. Migratory behavior is much less common in tropical bats than in temperate bats and is never associated with hibernation Fleming and Eby, Whereas temperate bats migrate and hibernate to avoid habitats that are energetically and physiologically unfavorable during winter, tropical, and subtropical bats usually migrate along food resource gradients or among seasonally ephemeral resource patches.

A clear example of this is the nectar-feeding, long-distance migrant L. During the fall and winter, populations in western Mexico live in tropical dry forest and visit flowers produced by trees and shrubs during an annual flowering peak.

Once in the Sonoran Desert, they form maternity colonies and feed at a super-rich source of nectar and pollen produced by several species of spring-blooming columnar cacti. Populations of this species living in central or southern Mexico are more sedentary because their floral resources are available year round. In Africa, several species of fruit-eating pteropodid bats, including Eidolon helvum, Myonycteris torquata , and Nanonycteris veldkampi , migrate up to km away from equatorial forests to savanna woodlands to feed on seasonal bursts of fruit Thomas, In eastern Australia, the pteropodid bat Pteropus poliocephalus contains sedentary coastal populations that feed on fig fruits year round and inland populations that migrate hundreds of kilometers between ephemeral but rich patches of flowering eucalypt trees Eby, From the s until recently, placing numbered aluminum bands on bats was the predominant method used to study bat and bird migration.

This method involves banding bats at one roost either a summer or winter roost , and then attempting to recapture banded bats or recover their bands somewhere else. For example, over , T. In addition to banding, methods that are currently being used to study bat migration include analyses involving DNA and stable isotopes and tracking studies using radio or satellite transmitters, GPS devices, and data loggers.

Control region mitochondrial DNA is potentially very informative about genetic connections among distant roosts from which migratory connections can be inferred.

A study of L. Since this species is federally endangered in the United States and Mexico, large-scale banding operations were not feasible and other methods were needed to determine the scale of its migratory movements. Genetic analysis proved to be a very efficient method to obtain this information and to identify roosts in Mexico of special conservation concern e.

Other species whose migratory behavior has been studied using genetic techniques include Miniopterus schreibersii, N. Another analytical technique that has provided important new insights into the migratory behavior of hard-to-study bats is stable isotope analysis.

Stable isotopes of carbon and hydrogen are especially useful for this. The 13 C stable isotope of carbon allows one to determine whether herbivorous animals are feeding on plants that use the CAM, C4, or C3 photosynthetic pathway.

The first two pathways are used by succulent plants e. By analyzing carbon stable isotopes in muscle tissue taken from museum specimens collected throughout its geographic range in Mexico and the southwestern United States, Fleming et al. Deuterium D , the stable isotope of hydrogen, is useful for determining the migration distances of solitary roosting insectivores such as L.

Values of D vary inversely with latitude, elevation, and distance from coasts and can indicate approximately where bats were living when new tissue such as hair was produced. Since the aforementioned bats tend to molt before migrating in the fall, an analysis of hair samples from bats caught during migration or in their winter locations can be used to determine how far they migrated after molting.

This technique has been used to determine migration distances of — km for both males and females of L. Some bats molting during the summer in Canada were captured in Mexico in the winter. The researchers concluded that this technique holds considerable promise for studying long-distance migration in bats.

Radio-tagging and satellite tracking are two methods for directly studying the migratory behavior of bats. Except for the Australian Pteropus poliocephalis , which can carry transmitters with large batteries because of their large size, they have not yet been used to study bat migration for at least two reasons: i the battery life of these transmitters is short about 2 weeks and limits the amount of data that can be gathered from individual bats; ii since they migrate at night and sometimes at substantial altitudes up to m , following radiotagged bats during migration involves potentially dangerous night time airplane flights over unknown terrain.

Solar-powered satellite transmitters now weigh 12 g and have been used to study foraging and migration movements of one species of pteropodid bat that roosts in tree canopies rather than in caves during the day. At the other extreme is the long-distance migrant N. Because their annual ranges often encompass substantial geographic areas that usually cross different federal or international boundaries, the conservation of migratory bats, like that of migratory birds, can be challenging.

Consequently, conservation efforts need to be geographically and politically broad in scope. This conservation must involve protecting a variety of different roost sites, including those used for mating, migration, and maternity, as well as the foraging habitats around critical roost sites. In addition, habitats used en route during migration, including stopover habitats where bats can refuel, need protection. Plant-visiting bats such as the nectarivore L.

Based on their satellite-tracking results, for example, Richter and Cumming noted that only a fraction of the migratory pathway along which E. Loss of forest habitat containing fruiting trees along this pathway could seriously disrupt its annual migration. Based on levels of fat that these bats deposit prior to and during migration, Fleming has estimated that the maximum flight range of these bats is about km.

If the average distance between rich patches of cacti exceeds this value, then the migration of thousands of bats could be disrupted. And because intact populations of fall-blooming agaves are also needed by this species to complete the return leg of its migration, habitat protection over a large portion of western Mexico is needed.

Migration of insectivorous bats is usually much more diffuse geographically than that of plant visitors, but they also need intact foraging habitat, as well as protected stopover roost sites. A landscape that is devoid of safe caves, intact forests, and unpolluted lakes and streams is just as threatening to the existence of migrating insect bats as a landscape devoid of flowering and fruiting plants is to plant visitors.

In addition to the usual litany of threats to bats and other wildlife e. In an effort to tap alternate sources of energy, wind farms have increased markedly in number and size in Europe, Australia, and North America in recent years.

While these establishments clearly have positive value for energy production, they can have negative value for wildlife because they kill migratory birds and bats. In North America and Europe, for example, peak bat fatalities occur in late summer and fall and are heavily concentrated in long-distance migrants such as species of Nyctalus and P. In the United States, wind farms located in forested parts of the east coast experience higher kill rates than those located in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest.

Why lasiurine bats, which migrate in flocks despite being solitary roosters during the summer, are more vulnerable to fatal interactions with wind turbines is not yet known. Bat fatalities occur only when turbines are spinning, not when they are stationary. After reviewing available data, Arnett and colleagues concluded that the number of bat fatalities at wind farms could be reduced substantially by temporarily stopping turbines at night at certain times of the year and under certain climatic conditions.

My final topic — one that has important conservation implications, especially for migrant bats, as well as health implications for humans — is bats as reservoir hosts for emerging viruses. It has long been known that bats are important reservoirs for rabies virus and that they sometimes but rarely transmit it to humans.

According to a review by Calisher and colleagues, bats are known to harbor a substantial number of viruses only a few of which are known to be pathogenic when transmitted to mammals, including humans. Both Hendra and Nipah viruses have been found in humans via transmission from intermediate host mammals e. Because they are geographically wide ranging, migrant bats have the potential to spread pathogenic viruses over wide areas.

Outbreaks of rabies virus in Europe, for example, have occurred along the migration routes of P. Migrant bats in general have a classic metapopulation structure featuring discrete populations roosts interconnected by dispersal or migration; between-colony movements can expose resident as well as migrant populations to new variants of rabies or exchange virus variants among colonies.

Calisher and colleagues suggested that this kind of population structure has the potential for seasonal virus transmission, annual outbreaks of viral diseases, and periodic outbreaks among spatially separate populations. Geographically discrete outbreaks of rabies in the nonmigratory vampire bat Desmodus rotundus or outbreaks of Hendra virus in migratory Australian Pteropus bats may reflect this.

Finally, the long-distance migrant E. The conservation implications of the fact that bats harbor pathogenic organisms are enormous. In truth, the positive benefits of migratory and nonmigratory bats far outweigh their negative aspects.

Migratory bats play an important role in many ecosystems around the world, and their conservation is essential. They move energy and nutrients among ecosystems, help to control insects on a broad scale, and serve as wide disseminators of pollen, seeds, and pathogens. Although they sometimes harbor pathogenic organisms, their positive attributes far outweigh their negative attributes. Increased public awareness of the lives of these fascinating bats worldwide is the key to their conservation.

Theodore Fleming has been a professional biologist for over 40 years. His seed dispersal studies were conducted in tropical forests in Costa Rica between and He is currently studying the evolution of plant-visiting phyllostomid bats in the West Indies. Theodore has been professionally employed by the Smithsonian Institution — , the University of Missouri, St.

Louis — , and the University of Miami — He has directed the theses or dissertations of 22 graduate students and has won several national awards for his research. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U.