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The social calls of bats are an area about which relatively little is known, with more research still required to expand our understanding. However, these calls are increasingly recognised as a useful aid to identification: they appear to be species specific and are indicative of behaviour - as in territorial activity of males during the mating season. Because the gathering and interpretation of bat echolocation data are a matter of course during research, conservation and consultancy, it is a logical progression to build momentum behind the consideration of social calls in mainstream bat-related work. A better understanding of this subject could mean that non-intrusive survey methods are developed, ensuring that what is being observed is, as far as possible, purely natural behaviour. In turn this will contribute to better interpretation and more suitable mitigation, compensation and/or enhancement solutions.
The book summarises what is understood so far about social calls of the bat species occurring in Britain and Ireland, and north-west Europe. This new edition has been updated and expanded throughout, now containing:
- foreword by the bat authority Michel Barataud, author of Acoustic Ecology of European Bats
- almost double the number of figures and tables as appeared in the first edition
- completely overhauled call library, all in full spectrum format, with new additional examples
- three entirely new chapters, covering bat-related acoustics, settings for social interaction, and survey guidelines
The material will be useful to people carrying out bat studies, at whatever level and for whatever purpose, and will also encourage others to undertake further research. What's more, social calls are fascinating to listen to: they are, after all, produced with listeners in mind (other bats). In light of this, the book is accompanied by an extensive downloadable library of sound files which offer a unique gateway into the private life of bats.
About the author
Neil Middleton is a licensed bat worker and trainer, with 20 years experience, having carried out most of his bat related work within the UK and Europe (Ireland, Cyprus, France, Spain and Hungary). He is the managing director of Echoes Ecology Ltd (www.echoesecology.co.uk), an ecological consultancy he established in Scotland during 2006. Neil has been involved with many bat related projects to date, including the Bats & The Millennium Link (BaTML) project which he set up to study the use of canal corridors by bats in Scotland (www.batml.org.uk). Neil is an accomplished trainer across a wide range of bat related subjects, having developed and delivered well over a 100 events to date. Neil first came across his co-authors, Andrew and Keith, whilst they all attended a bat course in Somerset during 2004, an event that not only inspired all three of them, but also was the beginning of a long friendship as they explored many bat related subjects together, including the material for this book.
