About Me
- Camera Trap Codger
- Native Californian, biologist, wildlife conservation consultant, retired Smithsonian scientist, father of two daughters, grandfather of four. INTJ. Believes nature is infinitely more interesting than shopping malls. Born 100 years too late.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Bat strafes owl
It's not unusual for a bat to glean insects buzzing a mammal.
Occasionally fellow camera trappers in Minnesota photograph bats very close to deer covered with mosquitos, and it's obvious what the bats are doing.
What you see in this video clip however is a little odd.
The pools in this creek are swarming with insects, so there's no reason for the bat, probably a species of Myotis, to hit the owl in the head.
That is, unless something else is going on.
Could the bat be mobbing the owl, the way songbirds mob owls?
Or did it's radar fail?
This is the kind of footage that reinforces my obsession with camera trapping.
If you are curious about nature, get yourself a camera trap.
You'll learn a lot while you are having fun.
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17 comments:
I can imagine that the bat is used to swooping down to get a drink from the pool and was flying by sight rather than using its echolocation and literally did not see the owl. I cannot imagine that it hit the owl on purpose. I don't think a small bat could withstand such collisions with any frequency.
Extraordinary footage: may I post it on Facebook so my batty friends can see it? They will have opinions for sure!
JoEllen Arnold
That is way cool, Codger! I'm inclined to think it is indeed mobbing behavior. The setting is such that an accident seems unlikely to me. Bats flying in cluttered environments like this are normally at the top of their game, with all senses working overtime. So, if it were drinking, or feeding on insects over the pool, I think it would have been echolocating all-out to navigate the surrounding rocks, and locate the surface of the water. Also, it hits the owl on top of the head, which seems far more purposeful to me than if it had blundered directly into the body. Bats do respond to alarm calls with mobbing behavior, and I'm guessing that this little fellow knew exactly what he was doing (anthropomorphically speaking).
Batfinger
It's possible that the bat's echolocation did not detect the owl to be as large as it is. The bat may have misread the echo, thinking it was a small moth, and instead got an owl.
At least that's my story, and I'm sticking with it.
Go ahead, JoEllen. No problem, as I like to get the word out. And thanks for the feedback, troops. I guess I'll have to get this on film again to convince y'all that bats have attitude. BTW, I had a suspicion that this one would rouse the wise Batfinger from his Zen-like trance.
I wonder if the owl's feathers might absorb sonar, stealth bomber style? Very interesting.
Could the bat be defending it's "territory"?
Britta
What an unusual thing to catch on film! Thanks for sharing. P
Love the video. I tried step framing through the image and couldn't be sure that it actually hit the owl but sure did come very very close. That water hole has turned into your treasure chest!
Carl
I agree with one of the anonymouses. The bat was probably trying to chase the owl away from its favorite hunting ground.
I love stuff like that. Maybe the bat just wasn't paying attention. It is amazing you got that on video. Good job.
I don't favor the mobbing explanation, which occurs when the victim is in flight. This owl was stationary, and therefore not easily recognized by a bat as an owl.
Like Jon, I was thinking about the echo that would come off an owl with the soft feathers, compared to a hard surface like rocks or water. I think the bat made an error.
This is in my opinion a deliberate mobbing behavior; Owls being well known predator for most North American Bat species.
Great video! I think the bat deliberately hit the owl, as a form of mobbing behavior. Acoustic "images" are probably more detailed than we humans can imagine, so I don't think it's a stretch to think that the bat "saw" the owl quite clearly. And the bat might have "seen" the owl before it came down to the water. It's hard for me to imagine that an animal which depends on echolocation for survival would mistake an owl for a moth.
Great video! I think the bat deliberately hit the owl, as a form of mobbing behavior. Acoustic "images" are probably more detailed than we humans can imagine, so I don't think it's a stretch to think that the bat "saw" the owl quite clearly. And the bat might have "seen" the owl before it came down to the water. It's hard for me to imagine that an animal which depends on echolocation for survival would mistake an owl for a moth.
Mobbing behavior in my humble opinion.
The bat probably get an image of the owl by echolocation.
Agree with Janet
here's a thought: owls have plumage designed to deaden sound. maybe their featers give of little echo rendering them almost invisible to the bat? I cannot believe it would not be echolocating so close the ground/obstacles and water.
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