By: Rob Schorr
(CNHP Vertebrate Zoologist)
CNHP zoologist Rob Schorr and bat biology technician Katrina Pawlaczyk started a collaborative project with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Avon Park Air Force Range, Florida, to study the endangered Florida bonneted bat. Schorr and Pawlaczyk worked with USFWS biologists Rob Aldredge and Kris Pitcher to place and move ultrasonic acoustic detectors throughout the range, and inspected tree cavities looking for roosting bonneted bats. They were able to see bonneted bats roosting in old red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) cavities, and saw RCWs and the threatened Florida scrub jay. CNHP and USFWS hope to understand Florida bonneted bat and tricolored bat distribution at the Range to identify habitat important for conservation of these bats.
Headquarters of Avon Park Air Force Range (APAFR) 
The “bat cave” at APAFR 
APAFR entrance sign
Rob Aldredge, Kris Pitcher, Rob Schorr, and Katrina Pawlaczyk
Rob Aldredge and Katrina Pawlacyzk establishing bat detectors 
Kris Pitcher and Katrina Pawlacyzk looking for Florida bonneted bats in red-cockaded woodpecker cavities
