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NABat is a muli-national, collaborative conservation monitoring program aimed at understanding status and trends all 47 species of bats common to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. What We Provide NABat provides essential, bat-related data, standardized monitoring guidance, and analytical tools and products that streamline regulatory compliance and inform resource management Learn More 195,000,000 + bat-related data records 47 North American bat species in database 570+ partner organizations in the U.S. and Canada 2,700+ registered users & data contributors 100+ analytical products, decision-support tools, and software releases 500 + third-party data requests

Create Account Plan Project Collect Data Prep/Process Data Upload Data Data QA/QC Get Data Species Codes Quick Links DATA QA/QC Jump to Common QA/QC Warnings... Unknown Locations Survey Details Incomplete Survey Locations Unused Possible Duplicate Locations Search for Your Error/Warning Code Survey Locations Unused The "Some survey locations are unused" warning indicates that a spatial object (point, transect, or GRTS cell) has been saved as a survey location but no survey events have been associated with that location. This typically occurs when a user manually saves a location using the drawing tools on the project map or uploads a spatial object as a .kml/.geojson file but fails to provide survey metadata. The warning serves as a reminder to project members that the location has been saved and should either be associated with a survey event or deleted. To resolve error: Users may associate unused locations with existing surveys manually: 1. First identify the GRTS cell ID of the unused location (hover over the point on the project map to reveal the GRTS ID). 2. Data for a project’s GRTS cells is located beneath the project map. Scroll to the desired GRTS cell and expand its content to find and open the desired survey. 3. Click the survey's green Edit Survey Details button. A location (used or unused) may be selected from a dropdown menu within the editing tool, linking said location to the survey. Users may also associate unused locations with existing surveys using the Partner Portal's Bulk Upload tool: 1. Simply enter the location name (must match exactly) to the “Site Name" data column within the bulk upload template . Possible Duplicate Locations This warning indicates that the project contains ≥ 1 survey location(s) within 100 m of another saved location. Often, this occurs when a survey location is established and minor variations, either in the latitude/longitude or the location name, are introduced in subsequent survey years. This warning does not necessarily indicate an error. In some instances, survey locations may be within 100 m of another survey location, particularly for hibernacula surveys or emergence count events. However, in most instances (especially for stationary acoustic surveys) survey locations should not be within 100 m of another site, and these locations should be combined into a single survey site. Click the Show Possible Duplicate Locations button to expand the table and view all possible duplicate locations. To resolve duplicate locations: 1. The user must choose a location among the duplicates to survive in the project; the remaining duplicates are to be deleted after having their surveys migrated into the surviving location. 2. To migrate a survey out of a location, begin by clicking the location’s link in the “Possible Duplicate Locations” table; the location and its data menu will appear in the project map. A location’s surveys are viewable in the summary table at the bottom of the data menu. 3. Click any survey link within that table to be ushered to the survey details. Click the green Edit Survey Details button, then use the drop-down location options to reassign the survey to the chosen location. 4. Repeat this process for all surveys in a duplicate location; once the duplicate location is empty of surveys it may be deleted from the project. Show Unknown Locations The "Show Unknown Locations" warning indicates that a location has been provided at the GRTS cell level without X,Y coordinates. This can occur when users manually create a survey event through the user interface and indicate the site is an "Unknown or undisclosed location" or when users provide metadata through the bulk upload template with GRTS cell values but no latitude or longitude. Unknown locations are not necessarily errors; some users prefer to provide data at the GRTS-cell-level rather than the point level. In these cases, the "Show Unknown Locations" warning can be ignored. However, users may prefer to provide more detailed location information. Click the Show Unknown Locations button to expand the table and view all unknown locations. Users may manually add X,Y coordinates to an existing location. The user must create a new point within the target GRTS cell and migrate surveys from the unknown location: 1. Begin by clicking the link to the unknown location within the table; the GRTS cell containing the unknown location and its data menu will appear in the project map. 2. Mark a point on the map to replace the current unknown location, clicking the green Edit button to add a name and specific X,Y coordinates if desired. 3. Return to the “Show Unknown Locations” table and click the link to the original unknown location to begin migrating surveys to the new, coordinate-specified point. If surveys exist for the unknown location, they are displayed in a summary table below the location details. Click any present survey to expand its details in the list of project GRTS cells beneath the project map. 4. Click the survey’s green Edit Survey Details button. The new, coordinate-specific location may be selected from a dropdown menu within the editing tool, migrating the survey from the unknown location. 5. Repeat for all surveys within the unknown location. 6. When finished (i.e., the unknown location contains NO surveys), again follow its link in the “Show Unknown Locations” table. Use the resulting menu options to permanently delete the location from the project.

Create Account Plan Project Collect Data Prep/Process Data Upload Data Data QA/QC Get Data Species Codes Resource Library RESOURCE LIBRARY Training Videos Reports & Background Docs Acoustic Survey Guidance Analyses Data Releases Software & Code Releases Helpful Links Training Videos Getting Started Intro to NABat View Video Using the Partner Portal Cell Selection Tool View Video Understanding the NABat Master Sample View Video What's in a [Site] Name? View Video Creating an NABat Partner Portal Project View Video The NABat R Package View Video Acoustics Planning, Prep, & Protocols for Stationary Acoustics View Video Processing Acoustic Data Using Kaleidoscope Pro View Video Reference Calls [Part 2] View Video Planning, Prep, & Protocols for Mobile Acoustics View Video Processing Acoustic Data Using SonoBat View Video Working with Large Datasets [Part 1] View Video Navigating the Updated Acoustic Upload Templates View Video Reference Calls [Part 1] View Video Working with Large Datasets [Part 2] View Video Non-Acoustics Understanding Bats through Community Science View Video Updated Capture Upload Template/ Aligning with USFWS Permit Reporting View Video The NEW NABat Transportation Structure Upload Template View Video Using PIT Tags to Study Bats View Video All About Winter Colony Counts View Video Bats in Transportation Structures View Video Year in Review 2024: Year in Review View Video 2023: Year in Review View Video Reports & Background Documents A Plan for the North American Bat Monitoring Program Link to Resource Monitoring Trends in Bat Populations of the United States and Territories: Problems and Prospects Link to Resource State of the Bats - Conservation Status and Threats to North American Bats Link to Resource Assessing Bridges, Culverts, and Tunnels for Bat Presence and Use Link to Resource NABat: A Top-down, Bottom-up Solution to Collaborative Continental-scale Monitoring Link to Resource Acoustic Survey Guidance A Guide to Processing Bat Acoustic Data for the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) Link to Resource NABat Mobile Acoustic SOP 1: Locating and Establishing Mobile Transect Routes Link to Resource NABat Mobile Acoustic SOP 2: Field Season and Survey Preparation Link to Resource NABat Mobile Acoustic SOP 3: Conducting Mobile Transect Surveys Link to Resource NABat Guide to Acoustic Detector Settings Link to Resource Configuring AudioMoth for Bat Acoustic Surveys Link to Resource NABat AudioMoth Configuration [config] File Link to Resource Analyses Evaluating Evidence of Changing Regional Occupancy of Four Bat Species in Response to Forest Management Practices Link to Resource Hierarchical Mixture Models and High-Resolution Monitoring Data Can Inform Siting and Operational Strategies to Mitigate Bat Fatalities at Wind Turbines Link to Resource Leveraging an Observed-Data Likelihood Improves the Use of Machine Learning Labels in Bayesian Hierarchical Model for Bioacoustic Data Link to Resource Multi-scale Predictors of Northern Long-eared Bat (Myotis septentrionalis) Occupancy in the U.S. Link to Resource Estimating disease prevalence from preferentially sampled, pooled data Link to Resource Integrated Distribution Modeling Resolves Asynchrony between Bat Population Impacts and Occupancy Trends through Latent Abundance Link to Resource Predicting Bat Roosts in Bridges Using Bayesian Additive Regression Trees Link to Resource A novel method for estimating pathogen presence, prevalence, load, and dynamics at multiple scales Link to Resource The State of Bats in North America Link to Resource Using Mobile Acoustic Monitoring and False-positive N-mixture Models to Estimate Bat Abundance and Population Trends Link to Resource Joint Spatial Modeling Bridges the Gap Between Disparate Disease Surveillance and Population Monitoring Efforts Informing Conservation of At-risk Bat Species Link to Resource Statistical assessment on determining local presence of rare bat species Link to Resource Status and Trends of North American Bats Summer Occupancy Analysis Link to Resource Analytical Assessment in Support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 3-Bat Species Status Assessment Link to Resource Spatial Guassian Processes Improve Multi-species Occupancy Models When Range Boundaries are Uncertain and Nonoverlapping Link to Resource Coupling Validation Effort with In Situ Bioacoustic Data Improves Estimating Relative Activity and Occupancy for Multiple Species with Cross-Species Misclassifications Link to Resource The Scope and Severity of White-nose Syndrome on Hibernating Bats in North America Link to Resource Modelling Misclassification in Multi-species Acoustic Data When Estimating Occupancy and Relative Activity Link to Resource Data Releases Results and Code from NABat's Integrated Species Distribution and Trend Models for Hoary Bat and Silver-haired Bat (2025) Link to Resource NABat Knitted Grid and Multi-scale Grid Covariates (2025) Link to Resource Summer Roost Site Suitability Analyses of Four North American Bat Species in the Eastern United States (2024) Link to Resource NABat Bayesian Hierarchical Model for Winter Abundance Predicted Population Estimates (2023) Link to Resource Supplemental Results and Code from NABat Integrated Species Distribution Model for Tricolored Bat (2025) Link to Resource Extrapolated Offshore Occupancy Predictions for Three Bat Species (2025) Link to Resource NABat Predicted Northern Long-eared Bat Occupancy Probabilities (2024) Link to Resource Integrated Summer Species Distribution Model: Predicted Tricolored Bat Occupancy Probabilities (2023) Link to Resource NABat One Health (version 2.0, 2025) Link to Resource Supplemental Results from Using Mobile Acoustic Monitoring and False-positive N-mixture Models for Bat Abundance (2024) Link to Resource NABat Integrated Summer Species Distribution Model Predicted Tricolored Bat Occupancy Probabilities (version 1.1, 2024) Link to Resource NABat Grid-based Offshore Sampling Frame (2022) Link to Resource NABat Master Sample and Grid-based Sampling Frame (2018) Link to Resource Software & Code Releases NABat R Data Connection Package (version 1.2.1, 2025) Link to Resource NABat Acoustic ML (version 2.0.0, 2024) Link to Resource NABat R Data Connection Package (version 1.1.0, 2024) Link to Resource NABat Acoustic ML (version 1.0.1, 2022) Link to Resource Ecosystems-nabat-FPabund: software for fitting false-positive N-mixture models using NABat mobile acoustic data (version 1.0.0, 2024) Link to Resource Helpful Links NABat R Package (nabatr) NABat Grid Cell Finder Data Tools and Resources from Southeast Bat Hub Field App Options

Bats We Monitor Allen's Big-eared Bat Idionycteris phyllotis Read More Photo credit: Ernie Valdez Arizona Myotis Myotis occultus Read More Photo credit: Ernie Valdez Big Brown Bat Eptesicus fuscus Read More Photo credit: Audrey Holstead Big Free-tailed Bat Nyctinomops macrotis Read More Photo credit: Richard Hoyer Brazilian Free-tailed Bat Tadarida brasiliensis Read More Photo credit: Ernest Valdez California Leaf-nosed Bat Macrotus californicus Read More Photo credit: Alan Harper California Myotis Myotis californicus Read More Photo credit: Alan Harper Canyon Bat Parastrellus hesperus Read More Photo credit: Dan Neubaum Cave Myotis Myotis velifer Read More Photo credit: J. Scott Altenbach Desert Red Bat Lasiurus frantzii Read More Photo credit: Bureau of Reclamation Eastern Red Bat Lasiurus borealis Read More Photo credit: Jordi Segers Eastern Small-footed Myotis Myotis leibii Read More Photo credit: Valerie Kearny, Arkansas State University Evening bat Nycticeius humeralis Read More Photo Credit: K. Leeker Florida bonneted bat Eumops floridanus Read More Photo credit: Florida Fish & Wildlife Fringed Myotis Myotis thysanodes Read More Photo credit: Pipe Spring NPS Gray Myotis Myotis grisescens Read More Photo credit: Dane Smith Greater Bonneted Bat Eumops perotis Read More Photo credit: BLM Hawaiian Hoary Bat Lasiurus cinereus semotus Read More Photo credit: Corinna Pinzari Hoary Bat Lasiurus cinereus Read More Photo credit: Jose Martinez-Fonseca Indiana Myotis Myotis sodalis Read More Photo credit: Dane Smith Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat Artibeus jamaicensis Read More Photo credit: Steven Brewer Lesser Long-nosed Bat Leptonycteris yerbabuenae Read More Photo credit: Alan Schmierer Little Brown Bat Myotis lucifugus Read More Photo credit: Jordi Segers Long-eared Myotis Myotis evotis Read More Photo credit: Dan Neubaum Long-legged Myotis Myotis volans Read More Photo credit: Paul Cryan Mexican Long-nosed Bat Leptonycteris nivalis Read More Photo credit: Winifred Frick, BCI Mexican Long-tongued Bat Choeronycteris mexicana Read More Photo credit: Patrick Randall Northern Long-eared Myotis Myotis septentrionalis Read More Photo credit: Andrea Schuhmann Northern Yellow Bat Lasiurus intermedius Read More Photo credit: Kpix Photo Pallas' Mastiff Bat Molossus molossus Read More Photo credit: Thomas Cuypers Pallid Bat Antrozous pallidus Read More Photo credit: BCI Menden Pictures Peter's Ghost-faced Bat Mormoops megalophylla Read More Photo credit: Jennifer Krauel Pocketed Free-tailed Bat Nyctinomops femorosaccus Read More Photo credit: Saguaro NPS Rafinesque's Big-eared Bat Corynorhinus rafinesquii Read More Photo credit: Jason Slater, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Seminole Bat Lasiurus seminolus Read More Photo credit: Kathleen Smith, Florida FWCC Silver-haired Bat Lasionycteris noctivagans Read More Photo credit: Jose Martinez-Fonseca, NAU Southeastern Myotis Myotis austroriparius Read More Photo credit: Andrea Schuhmann Southern Yellow Bat Lasiurus ega Read More Photo credit: Arturo Munoz Southwestern Myotis Myotis auriculus Read More Photo credit: Bruce D. Taubert Spotted Bat Euderma maculatum Read More Photo credit: Paul Cryan Townsend's Big-eared Bat Corynorhinus townsendii Read More Photo credit: Ann Froschauer, USFWS Tricolored Bat Perimyotis subflavus Read More Photo credit: Andrea Schuhmann Underwood's Bonneted Bat Eumops underwoodi Read More Photo credit: J. Scott Altenbach Western Small-footed myotis Myotis ciliolabrum Read More Photo credit: Ian Maton Western Yellow Bat Lasiurus xanthinus Read More Photo credit: BLM California Yuma Myotis Myotis yumanensis Read More Photo credit: Dan Neubaum

Create Account Plan Project Collect Data Prep/Process Data Upload Data Data QA/QC Get Data Species Codes Quick Links PROCESSING ACOUSTICS IN SONOBAT Select the acoustic survey type for which you have data STATIONARY POINT SURVEYS MOBILE TRANSECT SURVEYS SonoBat 30 is now the only version of SonoBat receiving classifier and program updates and the only version to conform to NABat's current stationary and mobile acoustic metadata fields. The following guidance is customized for SonoBat 30 users. Visit SonoBat 30 updates page https://sonobat.com/updates/ for information on the most current program build and classifier series, and instructions for updating a currently installed SonoBat 30 installation. Updates to SonoBat 1 through 4 are no longer supported by the software manufacturer, therefore, the guidance provided for SonoBat 1 through 4 is final as of February 1, 2025 and may not reflect future changes to NABat acoustic metadata. SonoBat 4 Guidance Processing Stationary Point Surveys Attribute Files > Scrub Noise Files > Assign Species IDs > Export Metadata > ATTRIBUTE FILES Only the SonoBat 30 build [20250128] and newer have integrated the updated (Fall 2024) NABat stationary acoustic metadata fields. 1. Open the SonoBat Data Wizard and select NABat Attributer from the drop-down menu in the top left of the window. Click the folder icon in the top right of the window and navigate to the folder containing the .wav files you intend to attribute (this should be a folder for a single deployment). Next, determine if you would like to Copy and Attribute to Output Folder or Rename and Attribute in place using the dropdown option. Specify an output directory in the Output Folder section where attributed files will be saved. The right panel of the application displays the GUANO metadata present in your selected acoustic files. This will be updated as NABat metadata fields are assigned in the Data Wizard . 2. Click the NABat Metadata button and enter metadata in the popup window that appears. 3. Once you have added all required NABat metadata (and any other metadata you collected), click the Attribute Files button in the bottom center of the window. You will need to complete this process once for each unique detector deployment. SCRUB NOISE FILES 1. Click the folder icon in the top right corner of the Data Wizard window and navigate to the folder containing your .wav files. 2. Click the drop-down menu in the top left and select Batch File Scrubber . 3. Select Thorough: more carefully scans . 4. Select medium from the filter options and ensure the appropriate frequency filter is selected. 5. Click Scrub in the bottom left of the window. 6. NABat requests that users provide metadata for scrubbed NOISE files. However, SonoBat automatically ignores any folder labeled Noise Files , Deleted Files , or Scrubbed Files . To ensure scrubbed files load in the SonoVet table, rename folders containing scrubbed files as NOTBAT before loading folders into SonoVet. ASSIGN SPECIES IDs 1. Open SonoBat 30 western [or eastern] North America and click the SonoBatch button in the lower left corner. 2. Click the folder icon in the top center of the window and navigate to the folder containing the files you intend to process. 3. Select the classifier most appropriate for your location using the drop-down menus on the left side of the window. 4. Ensure Append species codes to filenames? is NOT selected. 5. Select autofilter in areas without low-frequency bat species and auto-low in areas with low-frequency bats present. 6. Set acceptable call quality to 0.80 . 7. Set sqnc decision threshold to 0.90 . 8. Set max number of calls to consider to 16 . 9. Click Process in the bottom center of the window. EXPORT METADATA INTO BULK UPLOAD TEMPLATE The following steps can be used to export metadata from all processed deployments simultaneously, resulting in a single CSV with metadata from numerous sites. Simply select the parent folder that contains all of your processed deployments and follow the steps outlined below. The presence of non .wav files in the folder will not interfere with this process. SonoBat will ignore non .wav files. 1. Open SonoBat 30 western [or eastern] North America and click the SonoVet button in the lower left corner. 2. Click the Settings tab on the top menu bar. Click the dropdown menu for the vetting table layout setting and select the NABat summary preview option to load the NABat metadata form. 3. Click the Vetting Table tab from the top menu bar. Ensure all required fields have values and that all fields for which you have entered data are filled. 4. If everything is correct, click the Export tab from the top menu bar. Select a destination folder to save the metadata file and select Output null as an empty cell from the dropdown menu in the bottom center of the window. Click the Use current layout dropdown and select the NABat summary option. Provide a unique name for your metadata CSV. 5. Click Save to File . 6. Open the new metadata CSV, and enter the value for the metadata field, Name of Species List for Auto Id . If applicable, also include the value for the metadata field, Name of Species List for Manual Id. Click File, Save . 7. Your metadata is now ready for upload to the NABat Partner Portal . Attribute Files: SonoBat 30 Scrub Noise Files: SonoBat 30 Assign Species IDs: SonoBat 30 Export Metadata Into Bulk Upload Template: SonoBat 30 Processing Mobile Transect Surveys Attribute Files > Scrub Noise Files > Assign Species IDs > Export Metadata > ATTRIBUTE FILES Only the SonoBat 30 build [20250128] and newer have integrated the updated (Fall 2024) NABat stationary acoustic metadata fields. 1. Open the SonoBat Data Wizard and select NABat Attributer from the drop-down menu in the top left of the window. Click the folder icon in the top right of the window and navigate to the folder containing the .wav files you intend to attribute (this should be a folder for a single deployment). Next, determine if you would like to Copy and Attribute to Output Folder or Rename and Attribute in place using the dropdown option. Specify an output directory in the Output Folder section where attributed files will be saved. The right panel of the application displays the GUANO metadata present in your selected acoustic files. This will be updated as NABat metadata fields are assigned in the Data Wizard . 2. Click the NABat Metadata button and enter metadata in the popup window that appears. Select True to confirm that you are processing mobile transect data. NOTE: The NABat system will estimate the location based on user-provided spatial information for the route, timestamps of each file, and the start/end times of the survey. In this case, it is critical that users provide a spatial object (a KML or GEOJSON file) for the route prior to uploading NABat metadata, ensure timestamps are provided for each file, provide start and end times of the route, and leave the GRTS Cell Id column of the metadata upload blank. Instructions on uploading or drawing a spatial object for mobile transect routes are as follows: If transects pass through > 1 grid cell and you have a record of the X,Y location where each call was recorded (using an external GPS or a GPS enabled detector), leave the Start/End GPS and NABat Grid Cell Id fields blank. The NABat system will use the X,Y locations to auto-assign the correct grid cell id to each call. Otherwise, calls recorded outside the primary cell will produce a lat/long-grid cell mismatch error. 3. Once you have added all required NABat metadata (and any other metadata you collected), click Finish and then Attribute Files button in the bottom center of the window. You will need to complete this process once for each unique detector deployment. SCRUB NOISE FILES 1. Click the folder icon in the top right corner of the Data Wizard window and navigate to the folder containing your .wav files. 2. Click the drop-down menu in the top left and select Batch File Scrubber . 3. Select Thorough: more carefully scans . 4. Select medium from the filter options and ensure the appropriate frequency filter is selected. 5. Click Scrub in the bottom left of the window. 6. NABat requests that users provide metadata for scrubbed NOISE files. However, SonoBat automatically ignores any folder labeled Noise Files , Deleted Files , or Scrubbed Files . To ensure scrubbed files load in the SonoVet table, rename folders containing scrubbed files as NOTBAT before loading folders into SonoVet. ASSIGN SPECIES IDs 1. Open SonoBat 30 western [or eastern] North America and click the SonoBatch button in the lower left corner. 2. Click the folder icon in the top center of the window and navigate to the folder containing the files you intend to process. 3. Select the classifier most appropriate for your location using the drop-down menus on the left side of the window. 4. Ensure Append species codes to filenames? is NOT selected. 5. Select autofilter in areas without low-frequency bat species and auto-low in areas with low-frequency bats present. 6. Set acceptable call quality to 0.80 . 7. Set sqnc decision threshold to 0.90 . 8. Set max number of calls to consider to 16 . 9. Click Process in the bottom center of the window. EXPORT METADATA INTO BULK UPLOAD TEMPLATE The following steps can be used to export metadata from all processed deployments simultaneously, resulting in a single CSV with metadata from numerous sites. Simply select the parent folder that contains all of your processed deployments and follow the steps outlined below. The presence of non .wav files in the folder will not interfere with this process. SonoBat will ignore non .wav files. 1. Open SonoBat 30 western [or eastern] North America and click the SonoVet button in the lower left corner. 2. Click the Settings tab on the top menu bar. Click the dropdown menu for the vetting table layout setting and select the NABat summary preview option to load the NABat metadata form. 3. Click the Vetting Table tab from the top menu bar. Ensure all required fields have values and that all fields for which you have entered data are filled. 4. If everything is correct, click the Export tab from the top menu bar. Select a destination folder to save the metadata file and select Output null as an empty cell from the dropdown menu in the bottom center of the window. Click the Use current layout dropdown and select the NABat summary option. Provide a unique name for your metadata CSV. 5. Click Save to File . 6. Open the new metadata CSV, and enter the value for the metadata field, Name of Species List for Auto Id . If applicable, also include the value for the metadata field, Name of Species List for Manual Id. Click File, Save . 7. Your metadata is now ready for upload to the NABat Partner Portal . Exporting into Bulk Template: SonoBat 30_Mobile Attribute Files: SonoBat 30_Mobile Scrub Noise Files: SonoBat 30_Mobile Assign Species IDs: SonoBat 30_Mobile

Back to Search ERROR WARNING: If no Audio Recording Time is provided the Audio Recording Name must include a datetime in the format of "_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS" HOW TO RESOLVE: Enter missing required data based on the template's header rows—the third row indicates required status by field, and the second row lists data type restrictions. Entries listed in 'Audio Recording Name' field must include datetime suffix in the format '_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS' if the 'Audio Recording Time' field is left blank. Ensure each record includes values for all required fields before re-uploading. ADDED EXPLANATION: Surveys must include key fields that answer the "where, what, when, and who" questions: either a GRTS Cell ID or latitude/longitude to locate the survey, a Site Name to describe the place, survey start and end times, and the names of surveyors. Each survey type may also require a few additional fields. If required columns are missing entirely, the upload wizard will block the file. If required columns are present but individual rows lack values, those rows will be flagged while the rest of the file can load. Use the template's informational header rows to identify which fields are required and ensure each data entry row contains values for these fields before uploading.

Create Account Plan Project Collect Data Prep/Process Data Upload Data Data QA/QC Get Data Species Codes Quick Links Photo credit: Merlin Tuttle Quick Links to Resources Follow the links below to access helpful resources including guidance documents. Guidance documents Assessing Bridges, Culverts, and Tunnels for Bat Presence and Use Configure Audiomoth Processing acoustic files in multiple software Recommended Detector Settings Other resources Field App Options Nested NABat Grid-based Sampling Frame (50x50km; 10x10km; 1x1km resolutions) NABat Grid Cell Finder NABat Metadata Forms for Auto ID Software Property access request sample letter Tools and resources from the SE Bat Hub Winter roost field data form NABat R package NABat R Package (nabatr) TRAINING VIDEOS Getting Started Acoustic Surveying Processing Acoustic Data Data Prep & Uploading Community Perspectives Working w/ Large Datasets

REGIONAL MONITORING HUBS Hubs help prioritize local needs while aligning monitoring efforts with NABat's broader continental-scale goals. By working closely with local partners, hubs bolster collaboration, reduce redundancies, and help partners get more out of shared efforts and resources. Hubs in Your Area Reach out to a nearby Hub Coordinator to learn more! North of Northwest Hub Northwest Bat Hub PacWest Hub Rocky Mountain Hub Southwest Hub Midwest Hub Southeast Hub Mid-Atlantic Hub Atlantic Canada Hub Mail Mail Mail Mail Mail Mail Mail Mail Mail Leveraging Resources and Expertise Led by regional coordinators, hubs leverage resources across organizations to overcome challenges, provide services, optimize monitoring efforts and fill information needs, while populating the central NABat database. Hubs are key to the NABat purpose: to create a continent-wide program to monitor bats at local to rangewide scales that will provide reliable data to inform resource management decisions and support the long-term viability of bat populations across the continent.

Create Account Plan Project Collect Data Prep/Process Data Upload Data Data QA/QC Get Data Species Codes Quick Links PROCESSING ACOUSTICS IN SONOBAT 4 Select the acoustic survey type for which you have data STATIONARY POINT SURVEYS MOBILE TRANSECT SURVEYS SonoBat 30 is now the only version of SonoBat receiving classifier and program updates and the only version to conform to NABat's current stationary and mobile acoustic metadata fields. The following guidance is customized for SonoBat 30 users. Visit SonoBat 30 updates page https://sonobat.com/updates/ for information on the most current program build and classifier series, and instructions for updating a currently installed SonoBat 30 installation. Updates to SonoBat 4 are no longer supported by the software manufacturer, therefore, the guidance provided for SonoBat 4 is final as of February 1, 2025 and may not reflect future changes to NABat acoustic metadata. Processing Stationary Point Surveys Attribute Files > Scrub Noise Files > Assign Species IDs > Export Metadata > Formatting the Template > ATTRIBUTE FILES 1. Open the SonoBat Data Wizard and select the NABat Attributer from the drop-down menu in the top left of the window. Click the folder icon in the top right of the window and navigate to the folder containing the .wav files you intend to attribute (this should be a folder for a single deployment). Next, determine if you would like to Copy and Attribute to Output Folder or Rename and Attribute in place using the dropdown option. Specify an output directory in the Output Folder section where attributed files will be saved. The right panel of the application displays the GUANO metadata present in your selected acoustic files. This will be updated as NABat metadata fields are assigned in the Data Wizard . 2. Click the NABat Metadata button to access the NABat metadata pop-up window. For stationary acoustic data, the Mobile Transect option must be set to False . NOTE: the NABat Attributer metadata fields available in SonoBat 4 do not reflect the current metadata fields required and/or accepted by NABat as of Fall 2024. Only fill out the fields on the Location/Time (required) dropdown in the NABat Metadata pop-up window as the other metadata drop-down fields are outdated. 3. Once you have added only the NABat Location/Time (required) fields, click Finish . 4. Repeat the above steps for all NABat stationary metadata fields that are required or for which you have data. 5. Select the Attribute Files button in the bottom center of the window. SCRUB NOISE FILES 1. Click the folder icon in the top right corner of the Data Wizard window and navigate to the folder containing your attributed .wav files. 2. Click the drop-down menu in the top left and select Batch File Scrubber . 3. Select medium from the filter options and ensure the appropriate frequency filter is selected. 4. Click Scrub in the bottom left of the window. ASSIGN SPECIES IDs 1. Open SonoBat 4.x.x North America and click the SonoBatch button in the lower left corner. 2. Click the folder icon in the top center of the window and navigate to the folder containing the files you intend to process. 3. Select the classifier most appropriate for your location using the drop-down menus on the left side of the window. 4. Ensure Append species codes to filenames? is NOT selected. 5. Select autofilter in areas without low-frequency bat species and auto-low in areas with low-frequency bats present. 6. Set acceptable call quality to 0.80 . 7. Set sqnc decision threshold to 0.90 . 8. Set max number of calls to consider to 16 . 9. Click Process in the bottom center of the window. EXPORT METADATA INTO BULK UPLOAD TEMPLATE The following steps can be used to export metadata from all processed deployments simultaneously, resulting in a single CSV with metadata from numerous sites. Simply select the parent folder that contains all of your processed deployments and follow the steps outlined below. The presence of non .wav files in the folder will not interfere with this process. SonoBat will ignore non .wav files. 1. Open SonoBat 4.x.x North America and select the regional and subregional classifier appropriate for your survey location. Click the I understand button to access the applications primary user interface. 2. Click the SonoVet button in the lower left corner to access the Project Vetter pop-up window. 3. Click the Add to Project button and navigate to the folder containing .wav files that have been attributed and processed in the above steps. 4. Click the Settings tab on the top menu bar and then click the Load Layout button to load the NABat metadata form. Be sure to select the appropriate SonoBat form for your software version. SonoBat project forms are available for download here . 5. Click the Vetting Table tab from the top menu bar. Ensure all required fields have values and that all fields for which you have entered data are filled. 6. If everything is correct, click the Export tab from the top menu bar. Select a destination folder to save the metadata file and select Use current layout – and Output null as " " or Output null as an empty cell from the dropdown menu in the bottom center of the window. DO NOT select NABat Summary for export – this summary format does not reflect the NABat metadata updates. 7. Click Save to File . 8. The resulting .txt file must be converted to a .csv file. To convert the file in Excel , open a new workbook, drag and drop your .txt file directly into your new workbook. 10. The specific software version must now be manually added. Highlight the Software Type column, and using the find/replace function, replace SonoBat with SonoBat 4.x , depending on your specific software version. 11. Click File , Save As , and select the folder where you intend to save the metadata spreadsheet. Give the file a unique and descriptive name and select CSV (Comma delimited) from the Save as type dropdown. 12. In order for the NABat system to read your metadata, the column headers created by SonoBat must be replaced with the metadata field names from the most up-to-date NABat template. To do so, follow directions in the next section. FORMATTING THE NABAT METADATA TEMPLATE NABat stationary acoustic metadata fields were updated Fall of 2024. Because updates to SonoBat 4 are no longer supported by the software manufacturer, the SonoBat 4 NABat Attributer does not reflect the most up-to-date NABat metadata. Therefore, a scripted solution to format data from SonoBat 4 for NABat upload is provided below. 1. Click the R Script button below to download a .pdf version of the script. Open R studio and copy and paste the script into the upper left window. Adapt the code to your computer path and file names. Click Run until you reach the end of the code. A new CSV file should now be written and saved to your local working directory with a unique filename. 2. You must manually enter information for all required NABat metadata fields into your newly created .csv. You can review the stationary acoustic required metadata fields by downloading the bulk upload template here . 3. Once all required fields are populated, your metadata are now ready for upload to the NABat Partner Portal . R Script Attribute Files: SonoBat 4 Scrub Noise Files: SonoBat 4 Assign Species IDs: SonoBat 4 Export Metadata Into Bulk Upload Template: SonoBat 4 Formatting the NABat Metadata Template: SonoBat 4 Processing Mobile Transect Surveys Attribute Files > Scrub Noise Files > Assign Species IDs > Export Metadata > Formatting the Template > ATTRIBUTE FILES 1. Open the SonoBat Data Wizard and select NABat Attributer from the drop-down menu in the top left of the window. Click the folder icon in the top right of the window and navigate to the folder containing the .wav files you intend to attribute (this should be a folder for a single deployment). Next, determine if you would like to Copy and Attribute to Output Folder or Rename and Attribute in place using the dropdown option. Specify an output directory in the Output Folder section where attributed files will be saved. The right panel of the application displays the GUANO metadata present in your selected acoustic files. This will be updated as NABat metadata fields are assigned in the Data Wizard . NOTE: The NABat Attributer metadata fields available in SonoBat 4 do not reflect the current metadata fields required and accepted by NABat as of Fall 2024. Only fill out the fields in the Location/Time (required) dropdown in the NABat Metadata pop-up window as the other metadata drop-down fields are outdated. 2. Click the NABat Metadata button and enter metadata in the popup window that appears. Select True to confirm that you are processing mobile transect data. NOTE: The NABat system will estimate the location based on user-provided spatial information for the route, timestamps of each file, and the start/end times of the survey. In this case, it is critical that users provide a spatial object (a KML or GEOJSON file) for the route prior to uploading NABat metadata, ensure timestamps are provided for each file, provide start and end times of the route, and leave the GRTS Cell Id column of the metadata upload blank. Instructions on uploading or drawing a spatial object for mobile transect routes are as follows: If transects pass through > 1 grid cell and you have a record of the X,Y location where each call was recorded (using an external GPS or a GPS enabled detector), leave the Start/End GPS and NABat Grid Cell Id fields blank. The NABat system will use the X,Y locations to auto-assign the correct grid cell id to each call. Otherwise, calls recorded outside the primary cell will produce a lat/long-grid cell mismatch error. 3. Click Finish in the bottom right. 4. Once you have added only the NABat Location/Time (required) fields, select Attribute Files in the bottom center of the window. SCRUB NOISE FILES 1. Click the folder icon in the top right corner of the Data Wizard window and navigate to the folder containing your .wav files. 2. Click the drop-down menu in the top left and select Batch File Scrubber . 3. Select Thorough: more carefully scans . 4. Select medium from the filter options and ensure the appropriate frequency filter is selected. 5. Click Scrub in the bottom left of the window. 6. NABat requests that users provide metadata for scrubbed NOISE files. However, SonoBat automatically ignores any folder labeled Noise Files , Deleted Files , or Scrubbed Files . To ensure scrubbed files load in the SonoVet table, rename folders containing scrubbed files as NOTBAT before loading folders into SonoVet. ASSIGN SPECIES IDs 1. Open SonoBat 4 North America and click the SonoBatch button in the lower left corner. 2. Click the folder icon in the top center of the window and navigate to the folder containing the files you intend to process. 3. Select the classifier most appropriate for your location using the drop-down menus on the left side of the window. 4. Ensure Append species codes to filenames? is NOT selected. 5. Select autofilter in areas without low-frequency bat species and auto-low in areas with low-frequency bats present. 6. Set acceptable call quality to 0.80 . 7. Set sqnc decision threshold to 0.90 . 8. Set max number of calls to consider to 16 . 9. Click Process in the bottom center of the window. EXPORT METADATA INTO BULK UPLOAD TEMPLATE The following steps can be used to export metadata from all processed deployments simultaneously, resulting in a single CSV with metadata from numerous sites. Simply select the parent folder that contains all of your processed deployments and follow the steps outlined below. The presence of non .wav files in the folder will not interfere with this process. SonoBat will ignore non .wav files. 1. Open SonoBat 4.x.x North America and select the regional and subregional classifier appropriate for your survey location. Click the I understand button to access the applications primary user interface. 2. Click the SonoVet button in the lower left corner to access the Project Vetter pop-up window. 3. Click the Add to Project button and navigate to the folder containing .wav files that have been attributed and processed in the above steps. 4. Click the Settings tab on the top menu bar and then click the Load Layout button to load the NABat metadata form. Be sure to select the appropriate SonoBat form for your software version. SonoBat project forms are available for download here . 5. Click the Vetting Table tab from the top menu bar. Ensure all required fields have values and that all fields for which you have entered data are filled. 6. If everything is correct, click the Export tab from the top menu bar. Select a destination folder to save the metadata file and select Use current layout – and Output null as " " or Output null as an empty cell from the dropdown menu in the bottom center of the window. DO NOT select NABat Summary for export – this summary format does not reflect the NABat metadata updates. 7. Click Save to File . 8. The resulting .txt file must be converted to a .csv file. To convert the file in Excel , open a new workbook, drag and drop your .txt file directly into your new workbook. 10. The specific software version must now be manually added. Highlight the Software Type column, and using the find/replace function, replace SonoBat with SonoBat 4.x , depending on your specific software version. 11. Click File , Save As , and select the folder where you intend to save the metadata spreadsheet. Give the file a unique and descriptive name and select CSV (Comma delimited) from the Save as type dropdown. 12. In order for the NABat system to read your metadata, the column headers created by SonoBat must be replaced with the metadata field names from the most up-to-date NABat template. To do so, follow directions in the next section. FORMATTING THE NABAT METADATA TEMPLATE NABat stationary acoustic metadata fields were updated Fall of 2024. Because updates to SonoBat 4 are no longer supported by the software manufacturer, the SonoBat 4 NABat Attributer does not reflect the most up-to-date NABat metadata. Therefore, a scripted solution to format data from SonoBat 4 for NABat upload is provided below. 1. Click the R Script button below to download a .pdf version of the script. Open R studio and copy and paste the script into the upper left window. Adapt the code to your computer path and file names. Click Run until you reach the end of the code. A new CSV file should now be written and saved to your local working directory with a unique filename. 2. You must manually enter information for all required NABat metadata fields into your newly created .csv. You can review the stationary acoustic required metadata fields by downloading the bulk upload template here . 3. Once all required fields are populated, your metadata are now ready for upload to the NABat Partner Portal . R Script Attribute Files SonoBat 4_Mobile Scrub Noise Files SonoBat 4_Mobile Assign Species IDs SonoBat 4_Mobile Export Metadata Into Template_Mobile Formatting the Metadata Template_Mobile

4c284fbc-d068-4aae-8ee8-bc55fee97c57 Photo credit: Ernie Valdez USFWS Next WNS & Listing Status Idionycteris phyllotis Order: Chiroptera Suborder: Yangochiroptera Family: Vespertillionidae Call characteristics: Low frequency caller (~25 kHz) Weight 1/4 - 1/2 oz (8 - 16 g) Body Length 4 - 4 2/3 in (10.3 - 11.8 cm) There are various sources for bat species range maps including IUCN , NatureServe , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ECOS , and the National Atlas of the United States . US SWAP National List IUCN Red List Canada Species at Risk Mexico Allen's Big-eared Bat Allen's big-eared bat has long, dark brown fur with lighter tips and a black patch on each shoulder. This species has very long (1-1.5 in) ears! The species is often associated with pinyon pine, ponderosa pine, juniper, and oak and includes desert mountains in the southwestern US and Mexico. Maternity colonies have been observed in mines and dead trees. Allen's big-eared bats prefer to eat moths but also consume other flying insects. Mothers have one pup per year. Information used to populate this page was obtained from the following sources: NatureServe Explorer United States Fish and Wildlife Service Environmental Conservation Online System Bat Conservation International Bat Profiles National Atlas of the United States. (2011). North American Bat Ranges, 1830-2008. National Atlas of the United States. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/pz329xp4277. Taylor, M. 2019. Bats: an illustrated guide to all species. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books. Conservation Status Previous Next

617e21ba-0031-43c2-a320-23161d626fe2 Photo credit: Winifred Frick, BCI USFWS Next WNS & Listing Status Leptonycteris nivalis Order: Chiroptera Suborder: Yangochiroptera Family: Phyllostomidae Call characteristics: Low frequency caller Weight 2/3 - 1 oz (18 - 30 g) Body Length 2 3/4 - 3 1/2 in (7 - 9 cm) There are various sources for bat species range maps including IUCN , NatureServe , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ECOS , and the National Atlas of the United States . US SWAP National List IUCN Red List Canada Species at Risk Mexico Mexican Long-nosed Bat The Mexican long-nosed bat is dark gray to brown with a long nose and distinctive nose leaf. The habitat of this species is desert scrub and includes vegetation such as agave, creosote, mesquite, and various cacti. They range from the southwestern US to central Mexico. The Mexican long-nosed bat roosts in caves, rock crevices, old tunnels, and mines. Its main food is nectar and its tongue can reach 3 inches into agave flowers to access nectar. This species is one of the main pollinators of agave plants including mezcal, tequila, and century plants. This species migratory activity mirrors the seasonal flowering of agave. Mothers give birth to 1 to 2 pups per year. It is estimated that this species population has declined by over 50% over the last 25 years. These bats typically live 10-12 years in the wild. Information used to populate this page was obtained from the following sources: NatureServe Explorer United States Fish and Wildlife Service Environmental Conservation Online System Bat Conservation International Bat Profiles National Atlas of the United States. (2011). North American Bat Ranges, 1830-2008. National Atlas of the United States. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/pz329xp4277. Taylor, M. 2019. Bats: an illustrated guide to all species. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books. Conservation Status Previous Next