Bats Use Sound to “See”

A bat flies toward a moth.

Most bats are active at night. It is dark at night. It’s hard to see in the dark. How do bats fly around without running into things?

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Bats and other animals, such as whales, use echolocation to map their surroundings.

They use their ears instead of their eyes! Bats send out sound waves (vibrations that move through air, water, and other things) from their nose or mouth. The sound waves bounce off objects. The waves return to the bat’s ears like an echo. The bats use the echo to “see.” They know where the objects are. They know the size and shape of the objects. This is called echolocation. Some bats eat insects, like moths. A bat finds a moth. It sends out many sound waves quickly. The bat knows exactly where the moth is. The bat can fly over and catch it for dinner!

Some bats eat insects, like moths. A bat finds a moth. It sends out many sound waves quickly. The bat knows exactly where the moth is. The bat can fly over and catch it for dinner!

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Bats live in groups called colonies.

Could you hear the sound waves a bat makes? No. The frequencies (how fast the sound waves vibrate) of the sound waves are too high for humans to hear.

What Can You Do? Have you seen a bat flying at night? Was it flying fast?

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