Young Bermuda petrel fledges

This video from Bermuda says about itself:

Bermuda Petrel Chick Fledges the Burrow! – June 5, 2017

After over 3 months in the nesting burrow, the Bermuda Petrel chick has successfully fledged at about 11 PM on June 5, 2017! The young bird made a grand exit, taking about 25 minutes to tousle up the nest before finally leaving for good. The chick will take wing over the Atlantic Ocean as it learns to fly and survive on its own; he will spend 3 to 6 years alone at sea before returning to the breeding grounds in Bermuda to find a mate and start a nest.

Thanks to our partners at Nonsuch Expeditions and to Senior Terrestrial Conservation Officer Jermey Madeiros of the Bermuda Department of Environment and Natural Resources for providing consistent and thorough updates throughout the breeding season. This collaboration has provided a window into the breeding ecology of one of the world’s most endangered seabirds—the Bermuda Petrel aka Cahow. We hope to see you again in 2018!

The CahowCam is a collaboration between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Nonsuch Expeditions. You can watch the cam live here and learn more about Nonsuch Island‘s environs (including the cahow) here.

We’re excited to share a brand new live viewing experience featuring the critically endangered Bermuda Cahow, a kind of gadfly-petrel that nests nowhere in the world except rocky islets off the coast of Bermuda. In the early 1600s, this once-numerous seabird was thought to have gone extinct, driven out of existence by the invasive animals and habitat changes associated with the settlement of the island. In 1951, after nearly 300 years, a single bird was rediscovered, and since then the species has been part of a government-led conservation effort to revive the species.