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Migratory behavior is an essential component of the lives of many animals because it enables them to take advantage of resources that are available in different places and during different seasons. On the other hand, we have a lot of knowledge about the migration of birds, but we have a lot less information on the migration of bats since it is difficult to track the large-scale movements of nocturnal species. During the spring migration of noctules, which are little insectivorous bats, Hurme et al. utilized extremely sophisticated satellite tags that were very small in size. In order to migrate to their maternity roosts, they discovered that female bats mostly took advantage of warm evenings and fronts. However, they demonstrated a significant degree of adaptability, as seen by the fact that some individuals choose to delay the beginning of their journeys, so paying an additional cost in terms of energy consumption.
Long-distance migration, which is typical in passerine birds, is uncommon in bats and has received little research attention. The researchers monitored the daily position, temperature, and activity of female common noctules (Nyctalus noctula) throughout their spring migration across central Europe over a distance of up to 1116 kilometers by using a 1.2-gram Internet of Things (IoT) tag that has onboard processing capabilities. There were 71 bats that flew tens to hundreds of kilometers per night over the course of three years. The majority of their migrations coincided with the arrival of warm fronts, which provided them with wind support. Bats have also demonstrated an unexpected degree of adaptability by demonstrating the ability to migrate across a broad variety of environments if it is necessary. On the other hand, females that left at the end of the season showed a higher overall activity per distance traveled, which may be a consequence of the fact that they were able to migrate throughout the season.
Source:
Edward Hurme et al. Bats surf storm fronts during spring migration.Science387,97-102(2025).DOI:10.1126/science.ade7441
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