Loyola University - Study of Bat Behavior

Hello! I’m Marcelle Daoud, an exchange student from Brazil! Now I’m studying Biology in the U.S. at Loyola University New Orleans. I and more 9 Brazilian students are studying Biology and Biomedical Science here in the U.S. through the program Science Without Borders and we are experiencing great and different opportunities each day.

Here at Loyola I have been working with the professor Dr. Craig Hood in studies about the species of bats from New Orleans. We have been studying about their behavior and habits in the different seasons. For now I am just studying about the species and analyzing some data from other studies. After this we will start collecting new data from Jean-Lafitte National Park to analyze and study.

Jean-Lafitte National Park

The data that has been acquired is collected with an interesting instrument called Bat Detector. We need to use this instrument because bats have a very high frequency sound, it is so high that humans cannot hear. Thus, the Bat Detector can capture the sound of the bats and transform in an audible frequency for humans.

With these data captured by the Bat Detector we can analyze the time of appearance of each species, we can analyze what the bats are doing (just passing, feeding, interacting to each other), and with this we can understand better their behavior and help in their conservation.

Here are some pictures about the sound frequency captured by the Bat Detector and projected in the computer.

Evening Bat

Mexican Free-Tailed

Each species has a different frequency, and because of this we can identify which bat was detected by the Bat Detector.

There are 12 species that we can find in Louisiana State. They are: Lasiurus borealis (Red Bat), Lasiurus intermedius (Yellow Bat), Lasiurus cinereus (Hoary Bat), Lasionycteris noctivagans (Silver-haired Bat), Corynorthinus rafinesquii (Rafinesque’s Big Eared Bat), Epitesicus fuscus (Big Brown Bat), Tadarida brasilienses (Mexican Free-Tailed Bat), Nycticeius humeralis (Evening Bat), Perimyotis subflavus (Tri-colored Bat), Myotis austroriparius (Southeastern myotis), Myotis septentrionalis (Northern Long-Earred Bat), and Lasiurus seminolus (Seminole bat).

Tri-Colored Bat

Evening Bat

The most common bats detected in New Orleans are Tri-Colored Bat and Evening Bat.

Here in Louisina these bats have different behavior compared to other states that are cooler, and this happens because of the weather that is not so strict during the Winter. Their behavior is different because during this time of the year bats usually hibernate or migrate to another area that is not so cold, however here these bats remain in the same area and do not stop their activities during the night. 

 Any question comment here in the post or send me an email at marcelle.daoud@gmail.com.