Bird name:

Bermuda Petrel

Pterodroma cahow

Order

PROCELLARIIFORMES

Family

Petrels and Shearwaters (Procellariidae)

Code 4

BEPE

Code 6

PTECAH

ITIS

174568

Breeding Location:

Coastal, sea

Breeding Type:

Monogamous

Breeding Population:

Rare

Egg Color:

White

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

51 - 54

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

No nest materials.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Bermuda Petrel: Medium-sized petrel with gray-brown upperparts shading to black on the rump; underparts are mostly white except for dusky sides of upper breast. Base of tail shows a white band. Face and forehead are white; large black-brown cap extends to eye level. Short heavy bill is black. In flight shows black gray upperwing and white underwings with black margins and tips. Sexes are similar; juvenile resembles adult.

Range and Habitat

Bermuda Petrel: Bermuda Petrel is endemic to the island of Bermuda, Atlantic Ocean, where at the time of the early settlers' arrival in the sixteenth century it was widespread throughout the main island and its adjacent satellites, although it is now confined to four of the smallest islets in Castle Harbour, east Bermuda . Virtually nothing is known of its range at sea, but it probably wanders to the offshore waters of the southern Atlantic states, with a possible sight record off the coast of North Carolina.

Breeding and Nesting

Bermuda Petrel: One white egg is laid in ridges of cliffs or in rock crevices. Originally Bermuda Petrels burrowed their nests into the soft soils of Bermuda, but predation by introduced mammals exterminated them everywhere except on the smallest offshore islets where soil cover was too sparse to permit burrowing. Incubation ranges from 51 to 54 days and is carried out by both sexes.

Foraging and Feeding

Bermuda Petrel: These birds' food consists primarily of cephalopods (small squid) and lesser amounts of shrimp and probably small fish. They take food with their bill from the water surface. Bermuda Petrels do not follow boats.

Vocalization

Bermuda Petrel: Call is eerie "ca-how."

Similar Species

Bermuda Petrel: Very similar in appearance to the Black-capped Petrel which occurs regularly in water off of North Carolina where Bermuda Petrels have been seen several times. Black-capped has a wide white rump, white collar, heavier bill, proportionally shorter wings, and paler underwings.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Cap

The area on top of the head of the bird.

Face

The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America