Hunting and Diet
Daubenton's bat is insectivorous and uses echolocation to find prey and orientate itself at night. Bats emit sounds too high in frequency for humans to detect and interpret the echoes created to build a "sound picture" of their surroundings. Daubenton's Bat emits echolocation calls of frequencies between 32 and 85 kHz, though typical calls peak at 45 to 50 kHz and have a duration of 3.3 ms.
The bats emerge at twilight to hunt for insects over the water. Their main diet consists of small flies, midges, mayflies, and moths. Daubenton's Bat often eats its prey while still in flight. A seven gram Daubenton's bat often returns weighing 11 grams after a one hour feeding, increasing its body weight by 57%.
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