Black-capped petrel
| Black-capped petrel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Procellariiformes |
| Family: | Procellariidae |
| Genus: | Pterodroma |
| Species: | P. hasitata |
| Binomial name | |
| Pterodroma hasitata (Kuhl, 1820) | |
The black-capped petrel (Pterodroma hasitata) is a small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus, Pterodroma. It is also known as the diablotín. The probably-extinct Jamaica petrel (P. caribbaea) was a related dark form, often considered a subspecies of this bird.
This long-winged petrel has a grey-brown back and wings, with a white nape and rump. Underparts are mainly white apart from a black cap (that in some individuals extends to cover the eye) and some dark underwing makings. It picks food items such as squid from the ocean surface.
The black-capped petrel is nocturnal at the breeding sites possibly to avoid predation by gulls, hawks or crows. Like most petrels, its walking ability is limited to a short shuffle to the nest burrow. Although this seabird once breed on steep mountainsides of the Greater Antilles, only three confirmed breeding areas remain, all in the high mountains of Hispaniola (in Sierra de Bahoruco in the Dominican Republic, and Massif de la Selle and Massif de la Hotte on the Haitian side of the island). Records of Black-capped Petrels from Cuba and Dominica suggest that at least small populations of these birds may persist there. The local Spanish name, Diablotín, means "little devil", called so because of its night-time habits and the odd-sounding mating calls, which may have suggested to locals the presence of evil spirits in the dark. A mountain peak where it formerly bred in Haiti (and another in Dominica, Lesser Antilles) is still named Morne Diablotin.
The species, once abundant in the Caribbean, is now far less common. It is an uncommon but regular visitor to the south-eastern United States, and an extremely rare wanderer to western Europe. Causes for its demise include habitat loss, introduced predators, and direct harvesting by humans.
References
- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Pterodroma hasitata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
Bibliography
- Dod, Annabelle Stockton (1978). Aves de la República Dominicana. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
- Dod, A. S. (1992). Endangered and Endemic Birds of the Dominican Republic. Cypress House ISBN 1-879384-12-4
- Latta, Steven; et al. (2006). Aves de la República Dominicana y Haití. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-12876-6