A 2.6‐g sound and movement tag for studying the acoustic scene and kinematics of echolocating bats
Open accessAbstract
To study sensorimotor behaviour in wild animals, it is necessary to synchronously record the sensory inputs available to the animal, and its movements. To do this, we have developed a biologging device that can record the primary sensory information and the associated movements during foraging and navigating in echolocating bats. This 2.6‐g tag records the sonar calls and echoes from an ultrasonic microphone, while simultaneously sampling fine‐scale movement in three dimensions from wideband accelerometers and magnetometers. In this study, we tested the tag on an European noctula Nyctalus noctula during target approaches and on four big brown bats Eptesicus fuscus during prey interception in a flight room. We show that the tag records both the outgoing calls and echoes returning from objects at biologically relevant distances. Inertial sensor data enables the detection of behavioural events such as flying, turning, and resting. In addition, individual wing‐beats can be tracked and synchronized to the bat's sound emissions to study the coordination of different motor events. By recording the primary acoustic flow of bats concomitant with associated behaviours on a very fine time‐scale, this type of biologging method will foster a deeper understanding of how sensory inputs guide feeding behaviours in the wild.
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Tiny tags can capture GPS location, accelerometry, magnetic orientation, and sound all at once, which lets researchers zoom in on fine-scale decision-making while still keeping track of long-term population trends.
“Tiny tags can capture GPS location, accelerometry, magnetic orientation, and sound all at once, which lets researchers zoom in on fine-scale decision-making while still keeping track of long-term population trends (Stidsholt et al. 2018; Tomkiewicz et al. 2010).”
From Listening forward: emerging roles of bioacoustics in ecology, evolution, and conservation (2026) · cites this paper as Stidsholt et al. 2018
Biologging technology now makes it possible to pair acoustic recordings with data on movement, physiology, and the environment.
“Biologging technology now makes it possible to pair acoustic recordings with data on movement, physiology, and the environment.”
From Listening forward: emerging roles of bioacoustics in ecology, evolution, and conservation (2026) · cites this paper as Stidsholt et al. 2018
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Using on-board sound recordings to infer behaviour of free-moving wild animals
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Listening forward: emerging roles of bioacoustics in ecology, evolution, and conservation
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“Tiny tags can capture GPS location, accelerometry, magnetic orientation, and sound all at once, which lets researchers zoom in on fine-scale decision-making while still keeping track of long-term population trends (Stidsholt et al. 2018; Tomkiewicz et al. 2010).”
- Authors
- Stidsholt, L., Johnson, M., Beedholm, K., Jakobsen, L., Kugler, K., Brinkløv, S., Salles, A., Moss, C. F., & Madsen, P. T.
- Affiliations
- Aarhus University (DK)
- University of St Andrews (GB)
- University of Southern Denmark (DK)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Stidsholt, Laura
- ORCID
- Venue
- Methods in Ecology and Evolution
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2018-11-11
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 48-58
- ISSN
- 2041-210X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2896352310
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 6
- FWCI
- 4.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Methods in Ecology and Evolution (publishedVersion)
- Scopus (Elsevier) (submittedVersion)
- St Andrews Research Repository (St Andrews Research Repository) (submittedVersion)
- University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Carlsbergfondet (N00014‐17‐1‐2736, AFOSR FA9550‐14‐1‐0398, NSF NCS‐FO: 1734744)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Bat Biology and Ecology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Marine animal studies overview
- Keywords
- echolocating bats, kinematics, inertial sensors, accelerometer, magnetometer, Nyctalus noctula, Eptesicus fuscus, prey interception, foraging behavior, flight behavior
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