How Do Bats See in the Dark?

Words to Know

Echolocation

Finding things by listening to echoes

Bats use echolocation to fly in the dark.

Echo

A sound that bounces back to you

The bat listens for its squeak to echo back.

Ultrasonic

A sound too high for people to hear

A bat's calls are ultrasonic, so we can't hear them.

Adaptation

A special body power that helps an animal survive

Echolocation is a bat's amazing adaptation.

Check What You Learned

Fun Facts

• Bats find their way and hunt in the dark using echolocation: they make high-pitched sounds and listen to the echoes that bounce back off objects.

  Source: U.S. National Park Service / Bat Conservation International

• An echo is a sound that reflects off a surface and returns; bats use the timing of returning echoes to judge how far away and how big things are.

  Source: National Park Service

• Bats are NOT blind — most can see fine. Echolocation is an extra sense that works in total darkness.

  Source: Bat Conservation International

• As a bat closes in on an insect, it speeds up its calls dramatically — up to about 200 calls per second — in a burst called the "feeding buzz," giving it rapid updates on the prey's location.

  Source: Science / Royal Society Biology Letters

• Bats' echolocation calls are usually too high-pitched (ultrasonic) for humans to hear.

  Source: National Park Service

• Some other animals use echolocation too, including dolphins and toothed whales underwater.

  Source: NOAA