If you have a bat box and would like to participate in this study, please fill out this online multiple-choice survey with questions about your bat box. Your participation is important even if your box has never had any bats.
Bats in Canada face multiple threats such as habitat loss/degradation, diseases such as white-nose syndrome, and mortality from wind energy. Installation of bat boxes is frequently suggested as a conservation or enhancement tool for citizens wishing to assist bat populations. However, the effectiveness of bat box designs is not fully known in Canada. Some bat box designs currently used in Canada may not be optimal in promoting persistence and reproduction in different bat species, potentially due to inappropriate internal microclimates or mounting conditions.
Of the 18 bat species that are regularly found in Canada, 13 have been documented using bat boxes, although these data come from studies farther south in the United States. In Canada only 3 species are currently known to use bat boxes: little brown bats, big brown bats, and in the western provinces Yuma bats. Current recommendations on bat box design are based on research in the United States, especially Texas, and in Europe. Since the box design bats prefer varies by region and species, more information on bat boxes in Canada is urgently needed.
WANT TO KNOW HOW THINGS ARE GOING? Check out the Canadian BatBox Project newsletters!
Goals and Objectives:
Methodology & activities:
Partners in this project include: Parks Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Federation, Trent University (adjunct professor Christina Davy, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and Christopher Kyle, Forensic Science) with PhD candidate, Karen Vanderwolf and Environment Canada and Climate Change (Habitat Stewardship program).
Batbox owners wanted: Researchers launch 3-year study to study health of bat populations. CBC News New Brunswick. March 20, 2021
Canadian Bat Box Project. Healthy Wildlife: Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative Blog. October 2020
'Batboxes' could help revive Canada's depleting bat population. The Converation. July 25, 2021
Photo Credits: Header Photo-Nadine Brossart; Centre Photo-Jordi Segers