n.
An earth-burrowing, nocturnal bird (Pterodroma cahow), once abundant in Bermuda but now nearly extinct, with a hooked black beak, brown and white plumage, and a gray underside. Also called Bermuda petrel.
[Imitative of its cry.]
cahow
Dictionary:
ca·how (kə-hou') 
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n.
An earth-burrowing, nocturnal bird (Pterodroma cahow), once abundant in Bermuda but now nearly extinct, with a hooked black beak, brown and white plumage, and a gray underside. Also called Bermuda petrel.
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| Animal Encyclopedia: Bermuda petrel |
Pterodroma cahow
TAXONOMY
Aestrelata cahow Nichols and Mowbray, 1916, Castle Island, Bermuda.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Cahow; French: Pétrel des Bermudes; German: Bermudasturmvogel; Spanish: Petrel Cahow.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
15.0 in (38 cm); wingspan 35.0 in (89 cm). Brownish-gray upper body, including a cap that covers the eye and a partial brown collar on the nape. Black bill. White underneath, except for black edges of wings. Easily confused with the larger black-capped petrel.
DISTRIBUTION
Islets in Castle Harbour, Bermuda.
HABITAT
Marine. Formerly excavated burrows in sand or soft soils, but now nests on small, rocky offshore islands and in artificial burrows.
BEHAVIOR
Little is known about the natural behavior of these birds. Their normal night-time aerial courtship has been disrupted by lights from human facilities.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Very little known; not known to follow ships.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Breeding season January to June. The single white egg is incubated for 51–54 days; the chick is brooded for one or two days; fledging after 90–100 days. Historically it bred inland in soil burrows, but rats have driven colonies to suboptimal, rocky offshore islets.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Endangered. Had been thought extinct since 1621 after colonists hunted it for food. In 1921, it was found living, and in 1951, 18 breeding pairs were found. Intensive conservation efforts began in 1961; 45 pairs were found breeding in 1994. Current threats include native species (white-tailed tropicbirds [Phaethon lepturus] compete for nesting sites), human disturbance (light pollution disrupts nocturnal courtship), natural disasters (flooding of nests became a problem in the 1990s, with rising sea levels), and atmospheric pollution. In 1997, the population was estimated at 180 birds.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Formerly hunted for food.
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| Pterodroma cahow (Nichols & Mowbray, 1916) |
The Bermuda Petrel, Pterodroma cahow, is a gadfly petrel.
Commonly known in Bermuda as the Cahow, a name derived from its eerie cries, this nocturnal ground-nesting seabird is the national bird of Bermuda, and a symbol of hope for nature conservation. It was thought extinct for 330 years. Its dramatic rediscovery as a "Lazarus species", that is, a species found to be alive after being considered extinct for centuries, has inspired documentary filmmakers.
Initially superabundant throughout the archipelago, the Cahow is a slow breeder, but excellent flier, and spends its adult life on the open seas. At five years old it returns to its former nesting place and begins breeding, laying only one egg per season. Cahows mate for life.
The Cahows' eerie nocturnal cries stopped the early Spanish seafarers settling the islands out of superstition, as they thought the isles were inhabited by devils. Instead they put ashore hogs as a living foodstore for passing ships, and so began the onslaught on the Cahow's existence. Following Bermuda's colonisation by the English, introduced species like rats, cats and dogs, and mass killings of the birds by early colonists decimated numbers. Despite being protected by one of the world's earliest conservation decrees, the Governor's proclamation "against the spoyle and havocke of the Cohowes," the birds were thought to have been driven to extinction since the 1620s.
In 1951, 18 surviving nesting pairs were found on rocky islets in Castle Harbour, and a program was set up by David B. Wingate to build concrete burrows and wooden bafflers for the nesting tunnels in order to keep out the slightly larger, competing 'Bermuda longtail', and to restore the nearby Nonsuch Island to be a future viable base for the species.
Enjoying legal protection, the species has started to make a good recovery, the main threat for the future is lack of suitable breeding habitat. Hurricane Fabian destroyed many nesting burrows in 2003, and recently the larger and ecologically-restored Nonsuch Island is being repopulated with chicks, their translocation timed so they will imprint on these surroundings.[1] This work is being undertaken by the present Bermuda Conservation Officer Jeremy Madeiros assisted by the Australian petrel specialist Nick Carlile.
Nonetheless, the global population of this bird in 2005 was only about 250 individuals.
References
- BirdLife International (2006). Pterodroma cahow. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is endangered
External links
- ARKive - images and movies of the Bermuda petrel (Pterodroma cahow)
- BirdLife Species Factsheet
- Library of Congress early written records
- "NEW LIGHT ON THE CAHOW, PTERODROMA CAHOW" Report on the Cahow rediscovery in 1951
- Lucinda Spurling's documentary film website
- sample from Lucinda Spurling's film Rare Bird, on YouTube
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Learn More
 | Kehoe (family name) |
| David B. Wingate |
| Caitlin Cahow |
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Animal Encyclopedia. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2005 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bermuda Petrel". Read more |
