Different bat detectors and processing software… Same results?

Abstract

There has been an increase in commercial bat detectors and noise filtering software for monitoring bat activity. In this study, we compare the recording efficiency of three bat detectors from the popular brand Wildlife Acoustics (Echo Meter 3, Echo Meter Touch Pro 1 and Song Meter 2 BAT) and the effectiveness of two noise filtering software (Kaleidoscope and SonoBat Batch Scrubber). To do so, we recorded 7513 files from 13 urban parks in Madrid in 2017, that were manually identified to species level. The results show that the Echo Meter 3 records significantly less activity than the Echo Meter Touch Pro 1 and Song Meter 2 BAT. Our results also identify SonoBat Batch Scrubber as more reliable than Kaleidoscope for preventing false negatives. Therefore, our study demonstrates that different bat detectors, and different noise filtering software, can provide different results.