Analysis Software
There are a range of software options available, ranging from the very basic Bat Scan, from Batbox, that's ideal for analysing recordings from Batbox Duet or similar detectors, through to the professional options such as Anabat Insight, Batsound and Kaleidoscope.
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These softwares are listed according to price, with the most affordable at the top.
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Bat Scan
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
Easy to install, BatScan will record and play back sound samples through your windows compatible sound card. However, a sound card is not necessary in order to analyze and display audio spectrograms.
BatScan processes PCM format digital audio data such as .wav sound files. Default settings have been optimised for use with Batbox Duet.
BatScan will operate with 8-bit color. However, a 24-bit color is required in order to save screen images as graphics files ( jpeg or bitmap ).
BatScan will run under all Windows versions up to and including Windows 11
BatScan runs best with 128MB or more of RAM memory.
A basic bat call analysis software for analysing calls from Batbox Duet or similar bat detectors.
Batsound Touch
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
BatSound® Touch is a sound recording and analysis software which provides high-resolution real-time spectrograms and is very easy to use with touch screen Windows tablets. It has resizable text and buttons to facilitate operation on devices with virtually any screen size.
BatSound Touch is compatible with the popular M500 USB microphone.
A Windows tablet with BatSound Touch and the M500 makes an easy to use and powerful bat detector with real-time audio as well as real-time spectrogram.
BatSound Touch can also be used on computers without a touch screen.
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This is a really nice software, at an affordable price.
Batsound
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
BatSound uses any Windows compatible sound card for sound input and output.
BatSound supports sound formats up to 32 bits with one or two channels (mono/stereo) and sampling frequencies up to 192 kHz (for recording and playback, files of any sampling frequency can be opened and analyzed). The common WAV format is used to store files. It is also possible to open sound files with other formats such as mp3 and wma if the corresponding codecs have been installed on the computer.
Multiple windows with different sound files can be opened at the same time, facilitating comparison of signals and analysis results.
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Available as a single or five user licence.
Kaleidoscope Pro
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
Within minutes, Kaleidoscope Pro can quickly analyse thousands of ultrasonic or acoustic recording files. The software detects similar vocalisations, and groups them into Clusters. This innovative feature eliminates hours of tedious listening, making it much easier to examine vocalisations and label recordings. For acoustic recording files, Kaleidoscope Pro's clustering technology lets you build your own classifiers from known recordings to help you find matching patterns in new recordings.
AUTO-ID BAT CLASSIFIERS
In addition to Cluster Analysis, Kaleidoscope Pro includes auto-ID bat classifiers that suggest the most likely species of bat found in the recordings. Currently, Kaleidoscope Pro helps you identify bat species from North America, the U.K., Europe, South Africa, and the Neotropics – with more regions and species in development.
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Annual subscription for one user. Special rate for Universities.
Anabat Insight
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
Can browse through all the files in the project panel, open multiple files at once, and group files by time, detector, species, and folders etc
Generate reports for metrics, species counts, metadata extracts and traditional disperse reports
Capable of supporting Auto-ID algorithms from third parties, comes installed with the open source UK BatClassify project
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Purchasing this software licence will activate the full version of Anabat Insight on one computer. The full version of Anabat Insight will open any file, from any detector, and does not require yearly subscription fees.
British Bat Calls
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
Knowledge of bat echolocation, calls and identification using bat detectors and programs such as BatSound has grown significantly in the last decade. In this practical guide Jon Russ and contributors (Kate Barlow, Philip Briggs & Sandie Sowler) present the latest data in a clear and concise manner.
The book covers topics such as the properties of sound; how bats use sound; bat detection methods; recording devices; analysis software; recording techniques and call analysis. For each species found in the British Isles, information is given on distribution; emergence times; flight and foraging behaviour; habitat; and echolocation including parameters for common measurements.
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If you want to get further 'into' bats and their calls, this is an essential addition to your bookshelf.
Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and Ireland
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
Bats are fascinating mammals about which we still have much to learn. As well as using ultrasonic echolocation calls for orientation and while foraging, they also have a complex array of vocalisations for communication. These are known as social calls and are an essential component of their colonial lifestyle.
This book brings together the current state of knowledge of social calls relating to the bat species occurring within Britain and Ireland, with some additional examples from species represented elsewhere in Europe. It includes access to a downloadable library of calls to be used in conjunction with the book.
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When you've mastered echolocation calls it's time to dive (swoop?) into social calls and this book, or the one below, is the place to start.
Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and Ireland (second edition)
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
This updated and expanded edition includes additional information and new examples not found in the first edition (further down this page). The call library now includes full spectrum sound files, as well as many new examples. Survey guidelines are included in the book.
The social calls of bats are an area about which relatively little is known, with more research still required to expand our understanding. This book summarises what is understood so far about social calls of the bat species occurring in Britain and Ireland, and north-west Europe.
This new edition contains: foreward by Michel Barataud, author of Acoustic Ecology of European Bats; almost double the number of figures and tables as the first edition; completely overhauled call library, all in full spectrum, with new examples; three entirely new chapters, covering bat-related acoustics, settings for social interactions, and survey guidelines.
An excellent update on the first edition.
Bat Calls of Britain and Europe
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
A comprehensive guide to the calls of the 44 species of bat currently known to occur in Europe. Following on from the popular British Bat Calls by Jon Russ, this new book draws on the expertise of more than forty specialist authors to substantially update all sections, further expanding the volume to include sound analysis and species identification of all European bats.
Written by Jon Russ, a well-respected bat worker and author of British Bat Calls.
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Expanding the focus into bats on the European mainland and substantially updating all sections of British Bat Calls, this is an excellent book.
The Handbook of Acoustic Bat Detection
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
An accessible and comprehensive guide to all things acoustic bat detection. This highly illustrated handbook provides an in-depth understanding of acoustic detection principles, study planning, data handling, properties of bat calls, manual identification of species, automatic species recognition, analysis of results, quality assurance and the background physics of sound.
Written by Volker Runkel, Guido Gerding & Ulrich Marckmann and translated by Iain Macmillan.
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Essential reading if you want to understand the fundamentals of bat detection and call analysis.
Is That a Bat?
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The occurrence of non-bat sounds during bat surveys can be distracting, intriguing or annoying. Recordings can include difficult to ID species of bat but also sounds not related to bats. This can be especially true when noise triggers such as insects, small mammals or birds look like bat-related noise. Therefore, only knowing what bats sound like is not enough. It's extremely useful to know what other sources of noise look and sound like within the same soundscape. This book will help bat workers, in whatever environment they're in, to be more confident in recognising, categorising and dismissing other sounds. The book includes a substantial downloadable sound library (.wav format) that readers can listen to by ear or process through sound analysis software.
Written by Neil Middleton, a well-respected bat worker and author of Social Calls of the Bats of Britain & Ireland, as well as The Effective Ecologist.
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Essential reading if you want to avoid confusion with non-bat sounds.
Bats of Britain and Europe
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
This concise and definitive guide presents all 45 bat species that regularly occur in Europe (of which 17 are known to breed in the British Isles). The extensive introduction details the remarkable biology of bats and explores the latest findings in bat evolution, behaviour and echolocation.
This is followed by in-depth species accounts covering life history, conservation status and identification, including echolocation characteristics, and complemented by accurate distribution maps, with the book illustrated throughout with superb colour photography.
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A really good introduction to the bats that are regularly found in Europe, including the British Isles, with distribution maps so you know which you're likely to be hearing.
