Video: Bermuda Petrel Welcomes Latest Chick
The Bermuda Petrel welcomed its newest chick to the world, with the event being streamed live from Nonsuch Island.
A spokesman said: “In the early hours of March 10, 2023, amid a cold snap with sporadic hail throughout the night, the male Bermuda Petrel in Den #832 at Resettlement Colony A on Nonsuch Island, Bermuda, [from which the CahowCam2 camera is live streaming]He welcomed his newest chick to the world!
“As JP, Jeremy and followers from around the world watched in real time at 1:46am, the partially hatched chick was finally revealed, less than 2 days since the first ‘pip’ was seen at 8:58am on March 8th . Then at 3:08 the fully hatched chick could be seen, now covered in leaves, and finally at 5:38 we could see the now almost fully dry, downy chick!
“After the young chick recovers from the hatching process, it begins to interact with the adult by peering and poking at the adult’s face, signaling hunger, and preparing for its father’s first feeding. @8:48 it had its first meal. Continue watching the LIVEstream here.”
Jeremy Madeiros said: “A sustained long period of strong, sometimes gale force winds with only brief lulls has really prevented all but very few survey trips to Nonsuch and the other Cahow nesting islands throughout February and now into March, a period in which the individual Cahow chicks begin to hatch after their 50- to 53-day incubation period. This is unfortunate for me as a conservation manager trying to determine the hatch dates, weight gain and health status of each chick of these critically endangered seabirds. I was also curious if we would break last year’s record of 15 fledged Cahow chicks produced by the nonsuch nesting colonies.
“During this breeding season [beginning in late October 2022 and extending to June 2023] A total of 33 active Cahow nests were confirmed on Nonsuch in the two nesting colonies. Although candling showed that some of the eggs had failed or were unfertilized, a total of 24 fertilized eggs were incubated by the adult birds at the end of January.
“On an inspection on February 23rd, I found that 3 Cahow chicks had already hatched, while 5 other nest cavities contained eggs at various stages of hatching, a process which can take 2 to 5 days for the Cahow.
“At my last check on Thursday 2nd March I was able to confirm that the number of hatched Cahow chicks on Nonsuch Island had increased to 8 whilst a further 6 nests had eggs at various stages of hatching. One chick had died shortly after hatching for unknown reasons, while fertile eggs were still being incubated in a further 5 nests. Although strong winds have kept me ashore since then, we were able to watch the R831 hatch [CahowCam 1] Chicks on the night of March 9-10. Also, I would expect the 6 eggs that hatched on March 2nd to have all produced hatched chicks by now, bringing the total number of Cahow chicks on Nonsuch to at least 15. And we still have 5 late eggs that have a good chance of producing chicks which means the total number of Cahow chicks on Nonsuch for 2023 could be 18-20.
“Although high winds aren’t such good news to go to Nonsuch, it’s great for Cahows as they are the accomplished creatures of the wind that they are. My check a week ago confirmed that all chicks were being fed and were above average weight for their age, suggesting the birds were taking advantage of the strong winds to make quick feeding visits to gather food for their chicks. As a result, I can’t wait to go back to the islands. We will announce our results at that time.”
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