Bats in Backyards

Survey insect-eating bats on your property and contribute valuable data to help inform the conservation of these cryptic animals.

Insect-eating bats play a critical role in our ecosystem by eating and helping to control insects like cockroaches, mosquitoes, and agricultural pests.

However, insect-eating bats in New South Wales are in decline. They are under threat from habitat loss, human activities and climate change. Of the 34 species in New South Wales, 18 are listed as threatened or are thought to be extinct.

Bats in Backyards is a citizen science project contributing valuable data to help save some of New South Wales's rarest insect-eating bats from extinction.

With large gaps in the known habitat requirements and distribution of these threatened species, we need to learn more to better protect them.

How you can help

If you live in or around Armidale, Narrabri, Wellington, Western Sydney, the Pillar Valley, Nyngan or Mungindi/Weemelah, you can become a Bats in Backyards citizen scientist.

Participate in the 2023–24 season and contribute valuable data to build a better understanding of threatened insect-eating bats to inform their conservation.

Get involved and:

survey insect-eating bats on your property using a bat detector device (provided to participants) to record echolocation calls over 3 to 5 days
return the device for analysis by Bats in Backyards scientists
receive a report detailing each bat species detected at your place, their preferred habitat and food, and recommended actions for bat protection and conservation on your land.

Express your interest in participating in Bats in Backyards and find out more

More about Bats in Backyards citizen science

Listen

How do we listen to bats?

Insect-eating bats are among only a few groups of species, dolphins and whales too, that use echolocation to navigate, hunt and communicate with each other.

They produce sound waves, called 'calls', at frequencies above human hearing, they listen to the echo, and then determine the size, shape and texture of objects in their environment.

Echolocating bats can detect the flap of a moth wing over 7 metres away and can effortlessly navigate and manoeuvre in pitch black.

Each species makes a slightly different call sound at a slightly different frequency, enabling scientists to identify the species making the call.

Bats in Backyards scientists analyse the high frequency calls recorded by participating citizen scientists and can determine which bat species have been detected in each participant's backyard.

Success

What has Bats in Backyards achieved to date?

Bats in Backyards is now into its second monitoring season following a successful pilot resulting in:

95,996 bat calls were recorded across Narrabri, Wellington, Western Sydney and the Pillar Valley
participants included farmers, city dwellers, lifestyle property owners and Landcare groups
24 different species of bat, which included 9 threatened species, were identified, including the large bent-winged bat (Miniopterus orianae oceanensis), yellow-bellied sheathtail-bat (Saccolaimus flaviventris) and little pied bat (Chalinolobus picatus).

You can hear from some of the landholders in the video below, about why they got involved and what they found out about bats in their backyards.

Education

Information for teachers

For any teachers and educators who would like to participate in Bats in Backyards as part of an education program, please contact the Bats in Backyards team at batsinbackyards@environment.nsw.gov.au for resources, advice and curriculum links.

Our partners

The Bats in Backyards project is a collaborative effort between citizen scientists, the NSW Government Saving our Species program, Western Sydney University, and the NSW Department of Primary Industries.

Page last updated 24 January 2024

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Bats in Backyards

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