Strategic predatory pursuit of the stealthy, highly maneuverable, slow flying bat Corynorhinus townsendii

A predator’s capacity to catch prey depends on its ability to navigate its environment in response to prey movements or escape behavior. In predator-prey interactions that involve an active chase, pursuit behavior can be studied as the collection of rules that dictate how a predator should steer to capture prey. It remains unclear how variable this behavior is within and across species since most studies have detailed the pursuit behavior of high-speed, open-area foragers. In this study, we analyze the pursuit behavior in 44 successful captures by Corynorhinus townsendii, Townsend’s big-eared bat (n = 4). This species forages close to vegetation using slow and highly maneuverable flight, which contrasts with the locomotor capabilities and feeding ecologies of other taxa studied to date. Our results indicate that this species relies on an initial stealthy approach, which is generally sufficient to capture prey (32 out of 44 trials). In cases where the initial approach is not sufficient to perform a capture attempt (12 out of 44 trials), C. townsendii continues its pursuit by reacting to prey movements in a manner best modeled with a combination of pure pursuit, or following prey directly, and proportional navigation, or moving to an interception point.