By: Paige Singer, Conservation Ecologist – Leadership Team
It’s Bat Week, and Megan and I are so excited to be officially launching Colorado Bat Watch! Colorado Bat Watch is a community science program that we have been developing in partnership with the United States Forest Service, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Colorado Natural Heritage Program, and the North American Bat Monitoring Program, with funding from the US Forest Service Citizen Science Competitive Funding Program, Patagonia, and Larimer County Open Space.
We started this program after talking with our partners and realizing that not much is known about the population status of most of the 18 species of bats that call Colorado home. Three of those species (Fringed myotis, Hoary bat, and Townsend’s big-eared bat) are US Forest Service Region 2 Sensitive Species – which means that there is concern about their long-term viability on Forest Service lands. Bats face numerous threats in Colorado, such as habitat loss and climate change. In addition, hibernating bats in Colorado may be impacted by white-nose syndrome (WNS), a pathogen that has killed millions of bats in the eastern and midwestern U.S. since 2006. Unfortunately, the fungus that causes WNS was detected in Colorado this year.
That is why launching Colorado Bat Watch is more important than ever! With the help of community scientists, this program will collect data that will enable our partner agencies to identify roost sites, monitor bat populations over time, and better understand the impacts of WNS and other threats on local bat populations.
Data collected through Colorado Bat Watch will help land managers and conservation organizations develop strategies and programs to protect bats and their habitats.
Since the bats have all migrated or are hibernating, we are doing a soft launch of Colorado Bat Watch. What does that mean, you ask? Well, we are launching the Colorado Bat Watch Observation Form that we are using to collect data on where bats are seen flying or roosting throughout Colorado. If you have information on where you have seen bats flying or roosting in the past, we would love it if you would report those observations by going to our Report Your Bat Observations webpage and clicking on ‘Report Your Bat Observations’. Once you’ve submitted your observation, tell us about your experience by giving us your feedback through this form. Your feedback will ensure that we have everything running smoothly by the spring when the bats are back!
We are also launching our website — ColoradoBatWatch.org — where you can learn more about all the species of bats that call Colorado home, learn about how to become a bat ambassador, and even take a quiz to find out what bat you are!
Please help us spread the word and have all your friends Sign Up to learn more about the program.
For the bats,
Paige (and Megan)
