Researchers have used sensor backpacks attached to bats to determine how they hunt songbirds, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
Sensor packages were attached to two greater noctules to monitor the bats' movements, acceleration, altitude, and sounds (including echolocation). The data indicated a successful hunt, in which the bat dove at high speed from a high altitude, emitting low-frequency echolocation calls all the way down. After it made contact, the bat removed the bird's wings to reduce drag while the bird was still in the air. The bat also proceeded to eat while continuing to fly.
"We know that songbirds perform wild evasive maneuvers such as loops and spirals to escape predators like hawks during the day — and they seem to use the same tactics against bats at night," said Assistant Professor Laura Stidsholt of the Department of Biology at Aarhus University.
"It's fascinating that bats are not only able to catch them, but also to kill and eat them while flying. A bird like that weighs about half as much as the bat itself — it would be like me catching and eating a 35-kilo animal while jogging."
Specialized monitoring equipment, such as the sensor backpacks used in this study, can better inform conservation measures, both when they need to be strengthened and when they're proving effective.
Greater noctules are the largest bats in Europe, but they are also becoming increasingly rare. Shrinking habitat has reduced their population to fewer than 10,000 and put them on the threatened list. Bats perform vital ecosystem services, namely regulating insect populations. Mosquitoes have become an increasingly large vector for disease, making their predators all the more valuable.
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The scientific community had been working to shed light on greater noctules' hunting of birds for over 25 years. Researchers reflected on the conclusions they reached in the study.
"We finally figured out the murder mystery," said Stidsholt, per The New York Times.
"While it evokes empathy for the prey, it is part of nature," said lead author Elena Tena. "We knew we had documented something extraordinary. For the team, it confirmed what we had been seeking for so long. I had to listen to it several times to fully grasp what we had recorded."
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