Bat Books

Created January 2006
Updated Novewmber 2017

If you want to find out more about bats there are a number of books which are well worth a look. We have listed some of our favourites below.

Handbook of the Bats of Europe and Northwest Africa by Christian Dietz Dietmar Nill Otto Von Helversen  £40
This book was published in September 2009 and is absolutely breathtaking. Amazing photographs and crystal clear text. Excellent value for money. Kindle Edition £19.38

John (D) Altringham (2003) “British Bats” HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-22-147X is one of the New Naturalist Series and is an excellent and thorough introduction. Well worth looking for a copy ,and , to our delight,the New Naturalist has just released it as a print on demand book for £50. Second hand copies of the original cost over £150.Kindle edition £19.99

Phil Richardson Bats

Phil Richardson(Author), Guy Troughton  (Illustrator), Frank Greenaway(Illustrator)160 pages, 16 plates with colour photos; b/w illustrations

Hardback | | ISBN-13: 9781873580950 £15.99Many of first fell in love with the first edition of this book way back when.

Now we have news that a new edition is due. I  haven’t seen it yet, but is has been updated. If you are new to bats or if you have a child who is keen on bats this is the book.

Bats: From Evolution to Conservation
25 Aug 2011
John D. Altringham. Paperback£39.14

“This book covers the key aspects of bat biology, including evolution, flight, echolocation, hibernation, reproduction, feeding and roosting ecology, social behaviour, migration, population and community ecology, biogeography, and conservation. This new edition is fully updated and greatly expanded throughout, maintaining the depth and scientific rigour of the first edition. It is written with infectious enthusiasm, and beautifully illustrated with drawings and colour photographs.” Amazon review

“In this fully revised and reformatted edition bat expert Phil Richardson takes the reader on a guided tour of the nocturnal world of bats: where they live, how they feed, and how they survive in almost every habitat on the planet. He uses his experiences of bat watching around the world to describe their complex life cycles, explaining how you can watch and study bats and help conserve these often threatened mammals. He also introduces many of the different species that have fitted so well into the environment. (Amazon review)

Also well worth having is the laminated leaflet published by the Field Studies Council. This is one of an excellent series designed to help people unfamiliar with a group to learn its key features painlessly. Excellent value  Jones & Walsh Date: 2001 Price: £2.75. Click here to go to the Field Studies Council website http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-British-Bats-Kate-Jones/dp/1851538755/ref=sr_1_17?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316948755&sr=1-17

The Bat Conservation produces  a series of very helpful leaflets. Some are general introductions (The Amazing World of Bats,
Living with Bats, Encouraging Bats) . You can also get information about the different bat species found in the UK. You can download copies from their website.  http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/uk_bats.html

A long awaited book on bat calls has been published by Pelagic Publishing. Written by Jon Russ, it gives a very clear explanation on how echolocation and bat detectors works. There are colour illustrations of sonograms for each species of British Bat and also includes a very useful selection on bat social calls.It covers heterodyne, time expansion and. frequency division  It is well set out and  great a for quick reference as £29.99 well spent

Y0u can also get a Kindle version for £27.51

Photo by Pelagic Publishing

A book outining the scientific evidence for mitigation. A useful reference for bat worklers and planing officers £19.99