{"id":38900,"date":"2019-03-31T17:37:19","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T21:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/?p=38900"},"modified":"2019-04-01T12:26:44","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T16:26:44","slug":"view-from-sapsucker-woods-the-comeback-story-of-the-bermuda-petrel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/view-from-sapsucker-woods-the-comeback-story-of-the-bermuda-petrel\/","title":{"rendered":"View from Sapsucker Woods: the Comeback Story of the Bermuda Petrel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><small><em>From the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/living-bird-spring-2019-table-of-contents\/\">Spring 2019<\/a> issue of <\/em>Living Bird<em> magazine. <a href=\"https:\/\/join.birds.cornell.edu\/ea-action\/action?ea.client.id=1806&amp;ea.campaign.id=24577&amp;ea.tracking.id=LBO\">Subscribe now<\/a>.<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n<p>One of the world\u2019s most uplifting conservation stories is playing out again this spring on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology\u2019s Bird Cams website. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/cahows\">stars on camera are cahows, or Bermuda Petrels<\/a>. Off camera are three heroes who deserve conservation awards for best original screenplay, best director, and best special effects in a conservation drama.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright sidebar-space order-bottom\"><div class=\"article-list list-style alignright\"><h2 class=\"article-list-header\">More From Living Bird<\/h2><ul><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-living-bird-toc\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/McKBunting-FI-TOC.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/McKBunting-FI-TOC-720x405.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/McKBunting-FI-TOC-240x135.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/McKBunting-FI-TOC-480x270.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/McKBunting-FI-TOC.jpg 745w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Spring 2019\u2014Table of Contents<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/li><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-living-bird-toc\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest-240x180.png 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest-480x360.png 480w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Living Bird-latest issue\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Magazine\u2014Latest Issue<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/li><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-article\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive-240x180.png 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive-480x360.png 480w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Living Bird archives\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Magazine Archives<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n<p>This year\u2019s onscreen story began at midnight on January 9, 2019, when a female cahow returned to her burrow following months out over the open ocean. An hour later she dropped an astonishing 20 percent of her body weight by laying her single egg. Her mate arrived four nights later, and after some remarkably tender mutual preens and bill touches between the two, he took over incubation while she returned to sea to renourish.<\/p>\n<p>These lead actors are two of just 300 living cahows. Among seabirds, only New Zealand\u2019s Magenta Petrel is rarer. Both these species of \u201cgadfly petrels\u201d share the dubious distinction of having been considered extinct for more than a century. Cahows disappeared in the 1620s after thousands were killed for food by Bermuda\u2019s earliest British colonists.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Wingate-WMediaCommons-720x918.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Wingate-WMediaCommons-720x918.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Wingate-WMediaCommons-768x979.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Wingate-WMediaCommons-480x612.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Wingate-WMediaCommons.jpg 774w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" alt=\"David Wingate. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>David Wingate in 2008. <em>Photo via <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/David_B._Wingate\">Wikimedia Commons<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption>\n              <\/figure><\/div>\n<p>My wife and I recently met all three of our conservation heroes on Bermuda. The first, 83-year-old David Wingate, recounted for us the cahow\u2019s famous rediscovery. As a 15-year-old in 1951, he joined ornithologist Robert Cushman Murphy and Bermudan naturalist Louis Mowbray in documenting seven nesting cahow pairs on the tiniest islands of Castle Harbor. Every chick that year was killed by White-tailed Tropicbirds, which compete for nest sites among the rocks. Those losses provided a pivotal clue for the cahow\u2019s later rescue.<\/p>\n<p>The population remained at seven pairs for a decade while Wingate attended Cornell University. Upon returning to Bermuda, he dedicated himself to an all-out restoration effort, beginning with affixing tropicbird-excluding baffles on burrow entrances, then installing artificial burrows to offer cahows more nest sites. By the early 1960s the cahow population reached 18 pairs, and it climbed to 60 pairs by the time Wingate retired. In 2000 he handed the project off to our second hero, Jeremy Madeiros. By then, Bermuda\u2019s tiny islets were beginning to erode due to sea-level rise and strengthening hurricane seasons. A stable breeding site on higher ground became essential.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed legacy-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio alignright\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube embed FeRuahzVa9k\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FeRuahzVa9k?feature=oembed\"><\/iframe><\/div><figcaption>On the Cornell Lab&#8217;s Bird Cams, an endangered Bermuda Petrel chick hatched from its egg on March 9, 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Besides working with cahows, Wingate also had been painstakingly restoring native vegetation on the largest of the Castle Harbor islands, called Nonsuch. There, Madeiros began creating artificial burrows amongst native shrubs, which are shunned by tropicbirds. To speed the colonization, he translocated nearly grown cahow nestlings to Nonsuch and laboriously hand-fed each one until fledging. Modeled after successful experiments in New Zealand, Madeiros\u2019s conservation strategy paid off: By 2010, at least 28 cahows had fledged after translocation and returned to burrows on Nonsuch, and some naturally raised nestlings were fledging.<\/p>\n<p>Bermuda\u2019s cahow population has increased at 3 percent annually since 1960, and now numbers about 130 pairs, including 22 pairs on Nonsuch Island. Labor-intensive construction of each new artificial burrow requires 600 to 800 pounds of concrete. Madeiros can barely keep up with the exponentially increasing demand for new housing, but he valiantly carries on.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright sidebar-space order-bottom\"><!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n<span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\">\r\n    <span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" id=\"hs-cta-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\">\r\n        <!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]-->\r\n        <a href=\"http:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/95627\/096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" ><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/95627\/096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da.png\"  alt=\"subscribe to Living Bird magazine\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\r\n    <\/span>\r\n    <script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script>\r\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n        hbspt.cta.load(95627, '096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da', {});\r\n    <\/script>\r\n<\/span>\r\n<!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Our third hero joined this captivating drama in 2013. Filmmaker J.-P. Rouja of the nonprofit group <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nonsuchisland.com\/\">Nonsuch Expeditions<\/a> built and deployed the first cahow cams so that Bermudan school kids could experience the wonders of their endearing national bird in action. The Cornell Lab caught wind of the show, and we now partner with Rouja and Madeiros to ensure that the whole world has a chance to witness the amazing cahows of Nonsuch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe envelope, please?\u201d Hats off to Wingate, Madeiros, and Rouja for rescuing, restoring, increasing, and publicizing this amazing bird and its inspiring comeback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the Spring 2019 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now. One of the world\u2019s most uplifting conservation stories is playing out again this spring on the Cornell Lab of<a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/stagaabnews\/view-from-sapsucker-woods-the-comeback-story-of-the-bermuda-petrel\/\" title=\"ReadView from Sapsucker Woods: the Comeback Story of the Bermuda Petrel\">&#8230; Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":38901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc":0,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc_title":"","_birdpress_featured_image":false,"_birdpress_hero_toggle":false,"_birdpress_hero_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_image_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_style":"default","_birdpress_hero_ratio":"","_birdpress_hero_h1":"","_birdpress_hero_media_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_media_array_id":[],"_birdpress_hero_media_array":[],"_birdpress_hero_media":0,"_birdpress_hero_video_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_video":0,"_birdpress_hero_youtube":"","_birdpress_hero_content":true,"_birdpress_hero_byline":"","_birdpress_hero_byline_bottom":"","_birdpress_hero_button_link":"","_birdpress_hero_button_text":"","_birdpress_hero_button_color":"","_birdpress_hero_date":false,"original_guid":"","_birdpress_hide_search":false,"_birdpress_page_width":"","_birdpress_global_cta":false,"_birdpress_widget_sidebar":"","_birdpress_next_article":0,"_birdpress_next_article_title":"","_birdpress_prev_article":0,"_birdpress_prev_article_title":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_sub_navigation":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_title":false,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation":"","_birdpress_postType":"both","_birdpress_categoryID":0,"_birdpress_tagID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostTitle":"","_birdpress_menuID":0,"_birdpress_menuName":"","_birdpress_listHeader":"","_birdpress_listLayout":"card-display","_birdpress_listColumns":"","_birdpress_maxItems":12,"_birdpress_listPaginate":true,"_birdpress_displaySort":true,"_birdpress_sortOrder":"DESC","_birdpress_sortBy":"date","_birdpress_listID":"","_birdpress_listClass":"","_birdpress_displayImages":true,"_birdpress_displayCaptions":false,"_birdpress_displayExcerpts":false,"_birdpress_attTop":"","_birdpress_attBottom":"","_birdpress_showLogos":false,"_birdpress_post_logo":0,"_wds_title":"","_wds_metadesc":"","_wds_focus-keywords":"","_wds_meta-robots-adv":"","_wds_meta-robots-noindex":false,"_wds_meta-robots-nofollow":false,"_wds_meta-robots-index":false,"_wds_meta-robots-follow":false,"_wds_autolinks-exclude":false,"_wds_canonical":"","_wds_opengraph":[],"_wds_twitter":[],"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_topic":0,"wds_primary_content-format":0,"wds_primary_cornell-lab-project":0,"wds_primary_host-project":0,"wds_primary_read-more-tag":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[998,1043],"content-format":[1055],"cornell-lab-project":[1029,1069],"host-project":[],"read-more-tag":[],"class_list":["post-38900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-news-and-features","topic-science-conservation-news-and-features","content-format-article","cornell-lab-project-bird-cams","cornell-lab-project-living-bird-magazine"],"metadata":{"associated-posts":[""],"wpa_off":[""],"_edit_lock":["1554135871:4"],"_edit_last":["4"],"_thumbnail_id":["38901"],"wdsi_message_id":[""],"wdsi_do_not_show":[""],"custom-byline":["<h5>By John 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