Rewind to 6 February 2020 and my sweetheart and I had simply checked out Raso on Cape Verde. We had actually simply seen the endemic Raso Lark and were heading back to São Nicolau on the charter boat. As we followed the east coast of Raso, examining the Brown Booby and Red-billed Tropicbird nest there, I spotted a seabird flying far from us. All I might see in the beginning is a thin white rump in the shape of the bird. I delicately said to my sweetheart that it “appears like a Great Shearwater”, to which she appeared indifferent and headed listed below deck. Sometime later on she came back on deck to see a scene of mayhem, me getting really sweary and chewing out the captain to follow that bird and the boat at complete speed in pursuit. The bird had actually consequently banked and the ‘thin white rump’ had actually ended up being a thick, white – gleaming, blindingly white – rump. If you remain in the Western Palearctic and you see a Pterodroma with a white rump, it is time to get really thrilled.
Peter ‘lucked in’ onto this Black-topped Petrel when returning from Raso on 6 February 2020 (Peter Stronach).
The next 17 minutes were a blur – a good blur! The bird, a Black-topped Petrel, was targeting Red-billed Tropicbirds going back to the nest and bothering them till they dropped their catch. Eventually it flew away out of sight. This sighting was extraordinary however there were a couple of information that didn’t sit ideal with me.
The present thinking is that Black-topped Petrel – or ‘Little Devil’ as it is informally called – is an unusual vagrant to Cape Verde and the larger Western Palearctic from West Atlantic haunts and Caribbean breeding premises. At times, this bird was flying right over the land and along the cliffs throughout broad daytime. Its targeting of tropicbirds was intentional; after it had actually parasitised one it flew back out to obstruct another understanding complete well another would be inbound to the nest. Would a vagrant seabird take part in this behaviour? To me, it felt that it understood that coast and utilized that understanding to increase the food it took. Maybe it was simply a vagrant, maybe its hunting strategy was a spur-of-the-moment choice. Either method, it sufficed to get me believing.
I like jobs. I like studying topics, getting deep down into the information and exercising options. Recent birding jobs with others consisted of showing early fall is simply as good as late fall for transatlantic passerine drifters on Corvo, Azores, and a mission to see whether it would be possible to obstruct ‘Omid’, the Siberian Crane, on its spring migration north from Iran (more on that here). So back to Black-topped Petrels and Cape Verde … is there a possibility they are breeding here? Here is an evaluation of the records to date.
- 6 February 2016 – one discovered by kids in the middle of Santa Antão (photo).
- 11 March 2017 – one from a seawatch off El Barril, São Nicolau (account).
- 13 February 2018 – one mistnetted on Santa Antão (photo).
- 28 April 2019 – one at sea in between Fogo and Ilhéu de Cima (photo).
- 6 February 2020 – one at sea in between Raso and São Nicolau (photo).
- 29 January 2021 – one at sea in between Fogo and Ilhéu de Cima (photo).
The interior of Santa Antão. Might the chorus of ‘Little Devils’ echo around these mountaintops? (Peter Stronach).
To turn the issue on its head, I chose to presume they were breeding and after that exercise where they were more than likely to breed. All understood Black-topped Petrel nesting websites remain in mountainous locations in between 1,500 and 2,000 m above water level in the thick understorey of high montane forests of Caribbean islands. It is here where the name ‘Diablotín’ or ‘Little Devil’ comes from, owing to its spooky call and the noise produced by air moving over its wings throughout nighttime flights. A modelling exercise of Caribbean breeding areas recognized higher-elevation websites with increased forest cover and those closer to the coast as being perfect. Although this design isn’t straight translatable, as the ecology and environment of Cape Verde are really various to the Caribbean, I searched for locations that were forested and above 1,400 m in elevation.
The islands of Cape Verde aren’t large so the near-the-coast element does not actually use. Although São Nicolau does have high locations which are forested in part, the location is little. The island that actually stood apart as appropriating was Santo Antão, which had big locations above 1,400 m and still with substantial native forest. This island likewise has the biggest population of breeding Fea’s Petrels and – most significantly – hosts 2 appealing inland records of Black-topped Petrel, one mistnetted throughout a session targeting Fea’s Petrels and the other discovered by kids. The choice was made …
The picturesque Ponta do Sol, Santa Antão (Peter Stronach).
We gotten here on Santo Antão on 17 February 2023, a journey I had actually prepared to accompany the brand-new moon and peak petrel activity. After leaving luggage at our accommodation we drove to Ponta do Sol in the island’s north-west to get some food and to attempt a night seawatch. As I began seawatching at around 4.30 pm from the point by the lighthouse, an extremely apparent passage of Fea’s Petrels remained in development heading east along the coast.
I moved greater along the coast roadway, counting up the Fea’s Petrels got to an overall of 134, all of which were either rafting on the surface area of the sea or flying east. Remarkably, they obviously have actually never ever been seen rafting in the breeding season prior to! As I scanned through the flocks, a little group flew and I was surprised to see a Black-topped Petrel amongst them. The birds would raft for a number of minutes, then fly move a bit additional east and land once again in a raft. I could not rather think it: our very first day on the island and I had actually seen my 2nd Black-topped Petrel in the Western Palearctic!
On 19th I attempted once again with the very same strategy, seawatching off Ponta do Sol and examining the Fea’s Petrels as they moved east along the coast. Again another Black-topped Petrel; this time I followed it a long method in the telescope up until it was a remote dot. Rotating my scope back left, I began scanning once again through the Fea’s in front of me when I was surprised to see another Black-topped Petrel amongst them. There was no chance the person I had actually simply viewed as a dot in the range might have returned so rapidly – it was a 2nd bird. Amazingly, when viewing the video back later on a 3rd bird appears in the melee – bird #2 vanishes from contended c 11 seconds, with bird #3 appearing from phase left at 18 seconds. A comparable occasion happened the following night with 2 birds seen amongst the event Fea’s. Just extraordinary!
Two of 3 Black-topped Petrels off Ponta do Sol, Santa Antão, on 19 February (Peter Stronach).
So, what do these sightings imply? Well, they do not definitively show Black-topped Petrel is breeding here, however – and it’s a huge however – if this level of activity was seen straight offshore of an island in the Caribbean it would be a reasonable presumption that you had breeding Black-topped Petrels on it. The birds were not parasitising the Fea’s Petrels and, there were no negative interactions in between them. Both types were acting in the very same method: rafting up and collecting offshore, with the Fea’s a minimum of certainly going inland to breeding and courtship locations.
I reported the sightings to the fantastic seabird group from the University of Barcelona Seabird Ecology Lab and Projecto Vito. They really kindly used to take me out on a ringing exploration to a Fea’s Petrel nest and I invested 2 fantastic nights with Alexsandro and Admilton seeing their extremely expert develop close. With their continuous research study of Fea’s Petrels at nest websites on the island, it is they who supply the very best hope of lastly showing whether Black-topped Petrel types in the Western Palearctic.
Black-topped Petrel off Ponta do Sol, Santa Antão, on 20 February (Peter Stronach).
