Nashville's Best Bat Removal

What Is Echolocation And How Do Bats Use It?

Echolocation is similar to sonar radar. It basically entails using high-frequency sound waves to communicate and create images. Echolocation is used by many mammals to communicate and find prey. 

These high-frequency sound waves must be loud enough to return to the sender and short enough to do so before the next one goes out. The returning echoes give bats an image of the environment or the prey they are hunting. 

Bats do have good eyesight, but they depend on echolocation to navigate and hunt prey. Bats have a concentration of receptor cells in their inner ears which helps them detect the smallest changes in frequency. Their ears are sensitive enough to pick up the high-pitched pulses which are inaudible to humans. They are also structured specifically to aid in the reception of echoes and sounds emitted by prey.

These pulses are deployed and interpreted at an impressive amount of two-hundred pulses per second. This makes it possible for bats to engage in echolocation activities during flight, allowing them to hunt prey even in the air.

Interpreting Echolocation

Donald griffin was the first to conclusively determine that bats use echolocation techniques and he coined the phrase. Most bats perform echolocation pulses with their mouths by contracting their larynx. However, there are some who send these pulses out through their noses by clicking their tongues. 

Bats can use echolocation to avoid objects as thin as a piece of thread in their environment. They also use echolocation techniques to identify the size of objects and capture prey such as flying insects. 

There are more than eight-hundred different species of bats around the globe. Each species utilizes different frequency patterns which allows researchers to identify different bat species through echolocation, even in dark places.

Using Echolocation

Some of the insects that bats hunt can hear the echolocation pulses bats emit. When they do, you will notice a marked change in behavior as they attempt to avoid the predator. Some will fly in a zig zag pattern while others turn and fly the other way. 

Whales, dolphins and other marine mammals also use echolocation to communicate and hunt under water. Scientists have studied these activities for many years. Some people who have lost their eyesight have even developed echolocation techniques to communicate and interpret the location of objects in their environment.

Underwater sonar used by the military and in submarines was developed by studying the way animals utilize echolocation activities. However, echolocation in animals involves using an auditory imaging system to develop a three-dimensional picture of an object or prey.