Research shows that bats cry to detect prey

May 1, 2008 New research has indicated that bats will 'cry out loud' to detect their prey. The report, which was published at PLoS ONE, states that "source level varied with species, but all bats emitted intense search call."

The report also states that bats will make calls with a lesser intensity when they are close to the ground. It says that "at close range there was a distinct correlation between distance and source level, such that the closer a bat was to the array and therefore also to the ground, vegetation or buildings behind the array, the less intense were its emitted calls."

The authors of the reports also noted that the bats that fly away from obstructions did not produce the loudest calls. This is despite the fact that they originally predicted otherwise.

The report also noted other findings that were different from the original predictions. It says that they were surprised that "the most intense source levels did not necessarily provide the longest prey detection ranges."