--- title: Bats Use Polarized Light to Figure Out Which Way to Fly description: Some bats use polarized light to calibrate their internal compass canonical: https://time.com/3023467/bats-echolocation-polarized-light/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-23T14:54:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:17:46.385Z article:section: Science og:title: Bats Use Polarized Light to Figure Out Which Way to Fly og:description: Some bats use polarized light to calibrate their internal compass og:url: https://time.com/3023467/bats-echolocation-polarized-light/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt752f3017280a301d/69869cc3810bbb40dcc92b3d/108111076.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2292 og:image:height: 1289 og:image:alt: A greater mouse-eared bat is pictured on og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bats Use Polarized Light to Figure Out Which Way to Fly twitter:description: Some bats use polarized light to calibrate their internal compass twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt752f3017280a301d/69869cc3810bbb40dcc92b3d/108111076.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bats Not So Blind After All, Study Suggests > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=6a66880f-04d3-46ae-991d-30037d6f843b&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Jul 23, 2014 2:54 PM UTC  A greater mouse-eared bat is pictured on January 14, 2011 in the cellar vault of the Old Brewery in Frankfurt an der Oder, eastern Germany. A greater mouse-eared bat is pictured on January 14, 2011 in the cellar vault of the Old Brewery in Frankfurt an der Oder, eastern Germany. Patrick Pleul—AFP/Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Jul 23, 2014 2:54 PM UTC People who describe themselves as “blind as a bat” might want to find a new turn of phrase. Scientists have [discovered](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140722/ncomms5488/full/ncomms5488.html) that some bats rely on polarized light to orient themselves. As is commonly known, bats use echolocation—locating objects by reflected sound—to “see” and navigate through the air. “But \[echolocation\] only works up to about 50 meters, so we knew they had to be using another of their senses for longer range navigation,” said Stefan Greif of Queen’s University, who led the new study on bats. It turns out that the mouse-eared bat, which can be found in Europe, uses a form of light that most humans cannot see to guide its movements. It is the first mammal to calibrate with polarized light, the [report published Tuesday in the journal _Nature_](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140722/ncomms5488/full/ncomms5488.html) says. As bats awake at sunset, they use the band of polarized light that appears in the sky (with one end pointing north and the other pointing south) to adjust their internal compass. Scientists tested this hypothesis by placing 70 female mouse-eared bats in boxes to watch the sunset.Bats in some boxes could see the polarized light normally. Other bats sat in boxes that had a lens that rotated the polarization 90 degrees. The bats were then released at night. The control group (who had seen the normal polarized light at sunset) flew the right direction home. 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