Regional recaptures of bats (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) ringed in Eastern Ukraine

Abstract

Bats are volant and highly mobile mammals that could cover up to 2000 km seasonally (one-way migration). But the level of mobility among different roosts sites in a breeding season, and among breeding areas and hibernation sites is poorly studied. With this communication, we aimed to present results of recaptures (51 cases with a distance of 0.5 km and more) of bats ringed in Kharkiv Region, Ukraine, from 2006 to 2018. The recaptures were obtained of three main study areas (NNP “Homilsha Forests” — 17 cases, Izium District — 5, Kharkiv City and surroundings — 27) and at two other localities of the Kharkiv Region. One recapture was obtained in Lugansk Region. The recaptures were received for five bat species (Nyctalus noctula — 35, Myotis daubentonii — 11, Eptesicus serotinus — 1, Pipistrellus nathusii — 1 and Pipistrellus pygmaeus — 3). The maximum distances were obtained to different species as follow N. noctula — 209.7 km, M. daubentonii — 24.8, E. serotinus — 14.5 km, P. nathusii — 1.1 km and P. pygmaeus — 1.2 km. For the first time, we confirmed that N. noctula that were born in forested areas of Kharkiv City surroundings moved to the built-up area of the city for hibernation. It is the first direct evidence of the existence of the resident population of this species in Ukraine.