Bats are known to use echolocation to orientate in their immediate environment, although whether they use a similar strategy for long-distance navigation (such as when flying towards their foraging grounds) remains unknown. Here, Goldshtein et al. show that bats can identify their location after being translocated several kilometres from their roost and are able to navigate home using echolocation alone, without relying on other senses.

The task of tracking echolocating bats — many of which weigh less than 10 grams — over long distances is technologically challenging. The authors used ATLAS, a lightweight, high-resolution GPS tracking system that enabled the tracking of Kuhl’s pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus kuhlii) after they were translocated ~3 km away from their roost. To investigate the sensory cues required for their subsequent navigation home, bats were split into groups with varying degrees of sensory deprivation, including control (normal senses); visually impaired; visual and magnetic deprivation; and visual, magnetic and olfactory deprivation. All of the bats were able to echolocate, and their navigation performance was evaluated on the basis of several metrics, including flight duration, trajectory and speed.