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Migratory bats are attracted by red light but not by warm-white light: Implications for the protection of nocturnal migrants 

Author:  | Wildlife

Abstract:
The replacement of conventional lighting with energy‐saving light emitting diodes (LED) is a worldwide trend, yet its consequences for animals and ecosystems are poorly understood. Strictly nocturnal animals such as bats are particularly sensitive to artificial light at night (ALAN). Past studies have shown that bats, in general, respond to ALAN according to the emitted light color and that migratory bats, in particular, exhibit phototaxis in response to green light. As red and white light is frequently used in outdoor lighting, we asked how migratory bats respond to these wavelength spectra. At a major migration corridor, we recorded the presence of migrating bats based on ultrasonic recorders during 10‐min light‐on/light‐off intervals to red or warm‐white LED, interspersed with dark controls. When the red LED was switched on, we observed an increase in flight activity for Pipistrellus pygmaeus and a trend for a higher activity for Pipistrellus nathusii. As the higher flight activity of bats was not associated with increased feeding, we rule out the possibility that bats foraged at the red LED light. Instead, bats may have flown toward the red LED light source. When exposed to warm‐white LED, general flight activity at the light source did not increase, yet we observed an increased foraging activity directly at the light source compared to the dark control. Our findings highlight a response of migratory bats toward LED light that was dependent on light color. The most parsimonious explanation for the response to red LED is phototaxis and for the response to warm‐white LED foraging. Our findings call for caution in the application of red aviation lighting, particularly at wind turbines, as this light color might attract bats, leading eventually to an increased collision risk of migratory bats at wind turbines.

Christian C. Voigt, Katharina Rehnig, Oliver Lindecke, Gunārs Pētersons

Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany (CCV, KR, OL)
Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany (CCV, OL)
Faculty of Life Science, University of Vienna, Austria (KR)
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Jelgava (GP)

Ecology and Evolution. Published online August 25, 2018. doi: 10.1002/ece3.4400

Download original document: “Migratory bats are attracted by red light but not by warm-white light: Implications for the protection of nocturnal migrants

This material is the work of the author(s) indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this material resides with the author(s). As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Queries e-mail.

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