6/21/01 "Jim McCoy" <jfmccoy at earthlink.net>

> I was just pondering
> another sighting of our local bats in an adjacent woodlot, and I wonder
> whether there is any reasonable way for the untutored eye to differentiate
> small bat species on the wing at dusk. Are there any bat experts out there
> who are good at this sort of thing?

To answer the question, yes and no. "Small" could be a matter of
interpretation to an untrained eye. Most of our bats in the Pacific
Northwest west of the Cascades are "small" and of the genus _Myotis_. Those
around here are represented by six species, all of which are impossible to
distinguish on the wing. Perhaps the most common suburban 'woodlot' bat I
would tend to expect around here of the _Myotis_ group would be the Little
Brown Myotis (_M. lucifugus_) but the possibilities are certainly not limited
to that one.

After the _Myotis_ group, the bats start getting a little bigger including
the common urban Big Brown Bat (_Eptesicus fuscus_) and less common less
urban Western Big-eared (_Plecotus townsendi_). On the wing, neither of
those are likely distinguishable either.

There are three species of mostly forest dwelling bats (including wooded and
semi-wooded suburban Puget Sound) which are sometimes recognizable given
adequate looks and light of the genera _Lasiurus_ and _Lasionycteris_. These
include Hoary Bat (_Laiurus cinereus_), the largest of the group and most
potent 'biter', and the smaller Red Bat (_Lasiurus borealis_), and
Silver-haired Bat (_Lasionycteris noctivagans_). These latter three are
rather 'attractive' with distinctive colored coats as the names of each
imply. They also have a tendency to turn up far out at sea and on boats
during autumn migration perhaps more so than some of the others which to
varying degrees are somewhat migratory as well while some simply hibernate.

East of the Cascades, there are few additional species which may be
encountered which have a preference for more arid and/or rocky habitats.
Bats are absolutely adorable creatures and each comes packaged with its own
special personality.

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Richard Rowlett
Bellevue (Eastgate), WA, USA

"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what
nobody has thought" --Albert Szent-Gyorgi (1893-1986).
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