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Male Bermuda Petrel Organizes the Nest After Health Check– Feb. 8, 2017

1,731 views · Published 8 February 2017 · 2:26 · Indexed 20 October 2026

Channel: Cornell Lab Bird Cams · 2017 · Pets & Animals

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Yesterday's health check revealed that the parent incubating the egg is the male! Here, he shows off his incubation skills when he pivots over the egg while making some rearrangements to the nest.

After the check, Senior terrestrial conservation officer, Jeremy Madieros, noted that the egg looks healthy and the parents are switching incubation duties fairly quickly and appear to be doing fine!

The CahowCam is a collaboration between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Nonsuch Expeditions. You can watch the cam live at http://allaboutbirds.org/cahows 

and learn more about Nonsuch Island's environs (including the cahow) at  http://nonsuchisland.com

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We're excited to share a brand new live viewing experience featuring the critically endangered Bermuda Cahow, a kind of gadfly-petrel that nests nowhere in the world except rocky islets off the coast of Bermuda. In the early 1600s, this once-numerous seabird was thought to have gone extinct, driven out of existence by the invasive animals and habitat changes associated with the settlement of the island. In 1951, after nearly 300 years, a single bird was rediscovered, and since then the species has been part of a government-led conservation effort to revive the species.

Much of this conservation work by the Bermuda Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has centered on the creation of manmade burrows to increase nesting habitat, and to create new colonies on larger islands that are more robust to the increasing threats of hurricanes. The Cornell Lab entered into a partnership with the innovative Nonsuch Expeditions, a multimedia and outreach effort centered on Nonsuch Island that is committed to raising awareness and conserving the unique animals and environments on and around Bermuda. They have successfully broadcasted from a cahow burrow in past years, and this year we are working together to create an experience that will blend both live footage from a new camera as well as interaction with DENR Senior Terrestrial Conservation Officer Jeremy Madeiros during his weekly nest checks throughout the nesting season. 

This on-camera pair has been together since 2009, using this same burrow each of those years, and has fledged successfully for the last three years. During the nesting season, the cahows only visit and court under the cover of night, then head out to sea during daylight hours. The pair returned to the island in mid-November to court and mate, then disappeared out to sea for the month of December. Last night (January 11), the female returned, and within an hour or so of arriving she laid a single egg that will be the singular focus of the pair's efforts for the next 5-6 months (watch highlight). Sometime during the night of January 12 or 13th, the male should return to take over incubation duties for the next month while the female heads out to sea, and hatch won't be for another 52-55 days—likely around the end of the first week of March.

There's no external mic at this point (we'll be adding one in the coming weeks), but if you turn up the sound or listen through headphones you can hear the rhythmic crash of the surf on the island. You can follow updates and ask questions via the cahow cam's Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/bermudacahowcam)—we look forward to learning about this cryptic species alongside you.
#birdcams #live #petrel #birds #wildlife #nature #nowplaying #bermuda

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