Daubenton's Bat
Myotis daubentonii
Head - Body 40-50mm. Wingspan 230-270mm. Weight 6-12gms
Often called the water bat because of its
habit of hunting low over ponds, lakes and rivers. They catch insects which are
close to, or on, the waters surface with their large feet or by
scooping up prey with their tail membrane. In the summer they use a variety of
places for their nursery roosts including holes in trees, buildings and bridges.
In Nottinghamshire only four nursery roosts have been discovered (One in a tree,
two in buildings and one in a rock crevice) although the
bat itself has been recorded throughout the county. Winter roosts are generally
in underground sites, old mines, tunnels, ice houses or caves for example.
Photograph by Eric Palmer
Distribution Map
Red dots = confirmed summer or winter roosts
Blue dots = unconfirmed roosts identified by droppings
Yellow dots = bats away from the roost
Echolocation Calls
Daubenton's bats produce the characteristically short calls produce by all the Myotis bats. On a heterodyne detector they sound like a rapid series a dry clicks. They produce a fast series of calls which speeds up when the bat turns. Recordings of calls made by time expansion often shows the calls to be bent rather than the straight calls produce by other Myotis bats.
Time expansion (10x) recording of a Daubenton's bat
Heterodyne (set at 45kHz) recording of a Daubenton's bat
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