Waihou Mitigation Area, Maui Island, bat acoustic activity, diet and prey availability, 2015 to 2018

Habitat use, diet, prey availability and foraging ecology of the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus semotus, Vespertilionidae) were examined in the east Maui region inclusive of the Waihou Mitigation Area, Pu‘u Makua Restoration Area and the wind power facility operated by Auwahi Wind Energy, LLC. The study was conducted to inform the mitigation and management requirements of Auwahi Wind Energy, and fulfill requirements for mitigating bat fatalities under its approved incidental take permit. Acoustic monitoring over the three-year period demonstrated that bats are present and actively feed year-round at the Waihou Mitigation Area. This study included the first genetic analysis of Hawaiian hoary bat diet items, and broadly confirms the major arthropod orders (Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, and Blattodea) found in previous microscopy-based studies of guano samples.