Most people have a negative perspective of bats for their horrible-looking appearances, and most importantly the stereotype thinking that all bats are carriers of rabies, but in fact, they’re inseparable parts of the entire ecosystem. They pollinate and disperse the seeds of hundreds of plants and various types of commercially valuable crops like cocoa, bananas and mangoes. They also promote the development of technology and bring new insights into innovation: the sonar system is inspired by the bat’s navigation system called echolocation. And they also play an essential part in pest control. It’s estimated that a bat can eat as many as 2,000 insects like mosquitoes in an hour of feeding time, greatly reducing the use of chemicals in agriculture. Besides, bat droppings are excellent fertilizers for farmlands.
Watching bats up close is a brand new experience that is totally different from what you see in television and movies. But bats are difficult to find as they’re nocturnal and they’re always hiding from humans. To catch a glimpse of these incredible creatures, you’ll need to invest in a wildlife camera with which you can have a chance to explore the secret lives of roosting bats in person and up close.
What Features Should be Included?
The first thing to bear in mind is that bats are nocturnal mammals, so when choosing a wildlife camera, you should choose one equipped with invisible night vision. Cameras built with low-glow infrared LEDs will emit partially visible red glows, but cameras built with glow-free LEDs, invisible to both humans and animals, will guarantee 24/7 recording even in complete darkness without spooking the roosting bats while providing decent quality images, albeit in black and white. The camera should come in a compact size lest it will give rise to any notice. Moreover, it should be waterproof to withstand the severe outdoor conditions outdoors. If you plan to install the wildlife camera into a bat box, make sure it has a wide-angle lens to cover everything inside.
Recommended Models
In the following section, we’ll introduce three types of wildlife cameras, wired and wireless, to allow you to conduct a bat watching with ease from the comfort of your home. You can watch real-time bat activities remotely on your smartphone, tablet, PC and TV.
Outdoor PoE Wired IP Bird Box Camera
Supported by PoE technology, the outdoor PoE wired IP bird box camera relies on a single Ethernet cable for data and power transmission, which highly reduces the installation costs. Once configured through the iCSee app, it can broadcast live videos on smartphones, tablets and PCs. It features a more reliable network connection regardless of bandwidth fluctuations. Protected in an IP66 waterproof rugged enclosure, it’s manufactured to work in a wide range of environments without the risk of water ingress.
This outdoor PoE wired IP bird box camera features industry-leading video clarity and color reproduction with an invisible night vision function to secure round-the-clock live streaming to your watching devices. High-resolution images (5MP) are guaranteed along with true-to-life audio. When all the natural light fades out, the outdoor PoE wired IP bird box camera will auto-switch to infrared LEDs for nighttime filming. Message notification is available at every trigger event so you won’t miss out on any exciting moments. Although this outdoor PoE wired IP bird box camera doesn’t support SD card storage, you can manually record the video to the app or use third-party software for local storage.
Multi-purpose Outdoor TV Camera with HDMI Box
This multi-purpose outdoor TV camera is super user-friendly, featuring a simple plug-and-see installation. NO software configuration is involved, which gives you great relief if you have a difficult time dealing with electronics. Issues like network congestion can be avoided to a great extent. It can directly stream the live videos to your TV or other HDMI monitors with an HDMI box, which supports both audio and video streams from the source camera. This multi-purpose outdoor TV camera is also relatively cheaper than other models, but it’s no less competent in functionalities.
You can watch stunning live videos in 700 TVL from the comfort of your sofa after a simple plug-and-play installation. It has a 3.6 mm wide-angle lens to display a wider field of view of 84° with a manually adjustable focus to capture more detail. Its IP66-rated watertight casing also gives you great flexibility on where to place the camera. Equipped with invisible infrared LEDs, the multi-purpose TV camera automatically switches to night vision mode in low-light conditions to secure 24/7 monitoring. A highly sensitive microphone is incorporated for audio recording. Plus, no additional speaker is demanded for audio output.
Long Range Wireless Versatile IP Camera
Bats mostly live in woodlands, suburbans, riversides, etc., but you still find some wandering in local parks, at a distance normally out of your network range. This long range wireless versatile IP camera supports wireless data transmission up to 300 meters in a direct line of sight to allow you to position the camera at any desired places (local parks, forests, natural habits, etc.). Some people are concerned that the electromagnetic waves of the wireless devices could interfere with their echolocation system, but the truth is bats use acoustic signals for navigation, and these two types of waves will not interact with each other.
The long-range wireless versatile IP camera employs a 2.5mm wide-angle, adjustable lens that gives you the best perspective inside the nest box while maintaining high-quality color images and clear audio. The invisible infrared LEDs help to deliver crisp infrared images at night without giving off glaring red lights. Real-time videos can be accessed anytime and anywhere with an Internet connection. Motion detection is available at every trigger event with instant message notifications. The long-range wireless versatile IP camera can work with dual-band routers and mesh WiFi (2.4Ghz) with no problems. It also supports various power options, allowing you to install the camera in any desired location.
