Singing silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans)

Characterizing sounds produced by animals can lead to better understanding of their behavioral ecology and conservation. While considerable focus has been on signals used by bats for echolocation, there has been less emphasis on nonecholocation sounds. We describe songs (i.e., acoustic vocalizations with distinctive syllable types in series or in complex motifs) produced by silver‐haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans). Songs, characterized by a sequence (song phrase) of 3 distinct vocalization types, were confirmed by observing free‐flying, silver‐haired bats at mine hibernacula in British Columbia, Canada. The song patterns were relatively consistent with each song phrase consisting of a lead call, followed by a droplet call, and finishing with a series of multiple chirp calls. The function of the songs is unknown, however, as other bat species produce songs for mating, we propose silver‐ aired bat songs may similarly be associated with courtship or mating. Alternative functions canno..., Methods from the manuscript:
Study Species
In Canada, silver‐haired bats are considered migratory, moving south for winter months (Naughton 2012) however, in British Columbia (BC) and parts of the northwestern U.S. (including Washington, Idaho and Montana), silver‐ haired bats are recorded year‐round, flying in winter during hibernal arousals (Schowalter et al. 1978, Falxa 2007, Lausen et al. 2022). Banding records provide evidence that at least some silver‐haired bats reside year‐round at some mines in British Columbia (Lausen et al. 2022).
 Study Area
Our recordings spanned several U.S. states and areas of BC. We recorded bats at 23 acoustic detector sites across western U.S. and Canada, each with varying degrees of forested/rocky terrain (Table S1, available in Supporting Information; Figure 1): California (4), Colorado (1), Idaho (3), Utah (2), Montana (2), Washington (one main active monitoring area), and British Columbia (BC, 10). At the Washington site, overwintering roosts of si..., Files that end in .wav can be opened with Sonobat, Kaleidoscope, or Anabat Insight. They can also be opened with free acoustic software that permit visualization such as Raven Lite. Note that Kaleidoscope (from Wildlife Acoustics) is free to download and use to visualize any of the recordings in this dataset. Insight must be purchased. Sonobat must be purchased and can only be used to view the .wav files. Files that end in something other than .wav (i.e., # or zc) are zero-crossing format and will require the free software download AnalookW or the fee-based Anabat Insight (both software links available on website of Titley Scientific). , These recordings are samples of songs produced by silver-haired bats.
Files have been made publicly available courtesy of Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, Montana Natural Heritage Program, British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Colorado Bureau of Land Management, Utah USDA Forest Service, and Idaho USDA Forest Service.

To view .wav files (full spectrum recordings) the following free software can be used:
Kaleiodscope (Wildlife Acoustics) - specific to viewing bat recordings
Raven Lite (Cornell University)

Fee-based software that could be used and is specific to viewing bat acoustic recordings:
Anabat Insight (Titley Scientific)
Sonobat

Recordings that end in something other than .wav (i.e., #, zc) are zero-crossing files and can be viewed in free software AnalookW (available: select first option in list), or fee-based Anabat Insight (Titley Scientific)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Metadata is not necessarily accurate, and should not be used. When these files are automatically identified...