Core bat-related services

  • Non-invasive remote detection methods
  • Identifications from acoustic recordings
  • Hire of bat detectors, thermal video equipment
  • Field surveys for whole bat communities
  • Targeted surveys for Threatened species
  • Resolution of Threatened species issues
  • Management and conservation advice
  • Long-term monitoring experimental design
  • Long-term unattended recording deployment
  • Automated identification of large datasets
  • Thermal imaging roost counts
  • Artificial habitats
  • …and more…please enquire

Bat detectors

We hire out bat detectors, and analyse any acoustic recording format.

There is a growing number of bat detector models on the market, the most recent recording in high quality full spectrum format. Some quick advice—use a detector that is suitable for the task in combination with a well-replicated survey design. We use several different types of bat detector, though our most frequently used models include the Pettersson Elektronik D500x and the Wildlife Acoustics SM2BAT. In addition, Specialised Zoological has a long history of experience with and a special fondness for AnaBat technology.  There are many other great toys out there too, and Specialised Zoological can analyse any signal from any detector.

Specialist knowledge and field experience

Kyle completed a PhD at The University of Western Australia on the Pilbara leaf-nosed bat, and has academic and applied research experience on several other species of conservation significance in remote areas of northern Australia, Papua New Guinea and parts of Asia. In addition, he has experience over many projects in areas where the bat fauna has never been surveyed previously, where echolocation calls are unknown, and where there are species new to science. His career as a research Zoologist has a very positive influence on the quality of work offered by Specialised Zoological—please see his publication list and enquire for a full CV and bio/precis.

Data analysis

The analysis undertaken by Specialised Zoological is consistent with the recommendations of the Australasian Bat Society. Most tasks are facilitated by both commercial software and custom-written R language scripts, with a manual check step included. The analysis of high quality full spectrum is our specialty, and now takes about as long as it used to take to manually check AnaBat format data.

Innovative solutions

Specialised Zoological recognises the advantages of using non-invasive technology to survey for bats of conservation significance. We put together or recommend the most appropriate hardware for the question at hand, and regularly trial new technology. In addition, we combine the use of commercial software and custom computer scripting to enable new, expedient and robust approaches to signal analysis. Some of these techniques will reach the scientific literature soon. Other efforts are focussing on the human-audible social calls of bats and frogs. Analyses in reports can include information from DNA barcoding and a comprehensive community level ecological analysis, especially with adequate field sampling and phylogenetic information from DNA barcoding—invaluable baseline information for large, unexplored project areas, and as a basis for later monitoring programmes—and for little or no extra cost to an overall budget.