Spring is in the air, and Toronto wildlife is emerging after months of bitter cold, including several species of bats that have either migrated or spent their winters in hibernation, sheltered from the harsh temperatures.
Bats are an essential part of the Greater Toronto Area’s ecosystems, and, love them or hate them, you might be seeing a lot more of these flying critters in local parks this spring.
A series of bat habitat structures will be installed in areas of the Martin Grove, Kipling, Islington and Royal York communities in the coming weeks.
Bat boxes will be installed over a roughly six-week period starting this weekend, March 15, 2025, and lasting until April 31, 2025.
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), under contract to Metrolinx, will be carrying out the bat habitat installations in a series of local green spaces, including Deane Park, Silvercreek Park, Eden Valley Park and the parkette west adjacent to Kipling Woodlot.
Wildlife authorities state that “the habitat structures will provide a safe environment for the local bat population.”
Area residents will have to endure some noise to accommodate these flying friends.
Metrolinx issued a construction notice warning that “crews may use augers and skid steer loaders to assist with the installation of the bat boxes in parks and nearby natural habitats” throughout the construction window from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Bat boxes have already appeared in other Toronto parks and proved something of a mystery for many parkgoers in 2024, who were unsure of why these unmarked boxes on stilts had appeared in locales like Corktown Common.
People in Toronto wondering about mysterious black boxes spotted around the city https://t.co/FBhkSnQdI4
— blogTO (@blogTO) June 7, 2024
The TRCA cleared the air about the boxes in an Instagram post last year, explaining that “there are eight native bat species in Ontario, with half of them endangered due to white-nose syndrome and habitat loss.”
The post went on to explain that the authority installed a total of 30 additional bat rocket boxes last spring alone as part of its ongoing bat program, which also includes “monitoring bat echolocation sounds to understand their presence and ecology better.”
That program is still going strong in 2025, with more boxes now going up in the west end of the city.
Jay Ondreicka/Shutterstock.com
