Appalachian Bat Count

Help needed – Count Bats For Conservation

Now's your chance to be the most creative host in your neighborhood – host a bat count this summer! Two of Pennsylvania's bat species commonly 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 in an area are doing from year to year. With the occurrence of White Nose Syndrome in Pennsylvania, monitoring these colonies is more important than ever.

PLEASE JOIN US in monitoring the health of Pennsylvania's summer bat colonies through the Appalachian Bat Count. Count bats as they exit their summer roost at dusk in June, then again later in the summer to see how the colony has grown as pups begin flying. The attached documents provide all of the information you need to get started. To register a new site, fill out the Site and Landowner Data Form and the Surveyor Information Data Form found in the Protocol and Survey Forms link below. If you have any questions, please call the Bureau of Wildlife Management at 717-787-5529. Grab a friend or two and go batty this summer for conservation!

• Appalachian Bat Count Protocol and Survey Forms 2023 (PDF)
• Appalachian Bat Count Keystone Login Volunteer Instructions (PDF)
  
• Appalachian Bat Count Database Entry Instructions_2023 (PDF)
  
  

Please submit completed forms to:
Appalachian Bat Count
c/o Bureau of Wildlife Management
Pennsylvania Game Commission
2001 Elmerton Avenue
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9797