A follow-up on Monday’s post about the newly discovered nesting site of the black-capped petrel, also known as the Diablotin bird: the field team has released photos from the nesting site, including some of the first ever video of a Diablotin fledgling.
After reaching the small, rural Haitian community of Savann Zombi by vehicle, the expedition continued on foot along the Massif de la Selle in order to reach a site close to Morne Vincent – one of the sites pinpointed by John Gerwin as a possible nesting location. Morne Vincent is a steep hill with cliffs, forming part of the mountain chain of the Massif de la Selle, and surrounded by land heavily impacted by slash-and-burn agriculture. On arrival at the site day-time searches for nests were initiated, followed by efforts to locate calling birds at night. After two days of intensive day and night efforts, no sign of the bird had been discovered.
Not wanting to admit defeat, Jairo Isaa Arache – a field assistant trained by Grupo Jaragua in the use of camera traps and telemetry – decided to search an adjacent (as yet un-surveyed) hill on his own. From somewhere up on the hill, the team heard Jairo shout “I think I have found the bird!” Inside a small cave an adult Black-capped Petrel was sitting motionless on a nest of dry pine needles and fern leaves. Nothing seemed to disturb the bird, and each team member took turns to have a short look at this miraculous find. The first ever active nest of a Black-capped petrel had been discovered!
A camera trap was set up a safe distance from the nest as a minimal-impact tool to monitor activity at the nest including any possible predators, 24 hours a day. More than 3,000 photos were taken during the period March – July 2011. “The amount of energy the parents invest in their off-spring is incredible. They only have one nestling, but dedicate half a year to brood the egg and feed the chick until it grows to full size and leaves the nest. Half a year is a lot of time!” said Ernst Rupp from Grupo Jaragua. On 2nd August, the team returned for the last time to the nest site and found that the camera trap had stopped working on 4th July. Although the final movements of the fledgling had not been recorded, it seems the young bird safely left the nest for the ocean as no signs of predator activity were found.
For more, read First ever chick photos give hope for threatened Caribbean seabird, an article prepared by Dominican conservation group Grupo Jaragua in collaboration with BirdLife International.
