New Hampshire’s two most common bat species, the little brown bat and the big brown bat, use buildings as their summer roosts. Abandoned houses, barns, church steeples – and even currently-occupied structures – can provide a summer home to female bats and their young. Monitoring these “maternity colonies” can give biologists a good idea of how bat populations are doing from year to year. With the occurrence of White Nose Syndrome in New Hampshire, monitoring these colonies is more important than ever.

The NH Bat Counts project involves citizen science volunteers in helping to monitor summer bat colonies in New Hampshire. Bat counts take about an hour and a half in an evening, starting a half hour before dusk, and volunteers are asked to conduct at least one count in June and one count in July. 

Project Goal?
The goal of the NH Bat Counts Project is to collect data on where bats currently exist in New Hampshire and in what numbers, as well as help us learn more about the site characteristics where bats exist and are maybe even thriving.

Where does the project take place? 
Counting can take place at any maternity colony in the state. These maternity colonies are places where female bats gather in the summer to have and raise their pups and here in New Hampshire can be found in barns, bat houses, church steeples, abandoned houses, and attics. 

When can volunteers participate? 
Volunteers are asked to conduct at least one count between June 3rd and June 23^rd (before most pups begin flying) and at least one count between July 8th and July 28^th (after most pups begin flying). Volunteers can count more than that and as often as they’d like!

Is training needed to participate?
Not required but are regularly held in late spring/early summer and posted to Nature Groupie. 

Who is this project ideal for?
People or families with bats!

How to get started?
Visit the project website below. 

NH Bat Count Website

Sign up to receive updates from NH Fish & Game and UNH Extension about the upcoming bat counting season, information on training opportunities, and results from summer bat counts. 

Sign Up for the NH Bat Counts Newsletter

Questions? Contact: 
Haley Andreozzi; haley.andreozzi@unh.edu; (603) 609-0927