Bats notoriously echolocate to sense the surrounding environment and orient themselves. However, there situations where echolocation might not be the preferred option. Some observations of the common noctule (
Nyctalus noctula) reported that some bats were flying without echolocating when in close vicinity to their roosts (for instance, when emerging or re-entering the roost).
In this BSc project, you will systematically explore this question by using simultaneous video and audio monitoring.
Tasks
- Perform fieldwork to acquire video and audio recordings of emerging bats
- Label the recorded data to individuate echolocation and flight events
- Perform statistical analysis on the resulting data to test whether (and under which circumstances) noctules echolocate in roost proximity
Who can apply?The project is open to BSc students
Who should I contact?Andrea Fogato and Dina Dechmann, Ephemeral Resource Adaptations Group 
