Black-capped Petrel

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Black-capped Petrel by Kate Sutherland / Macaulay Library

Seabirds

Black-capped PetrelPterodroma hasitata

ORDER: Procellariiformes
FAMILY: Procellariidae

Basic Description

The Black-capped Petrel is a dashing seabird with a bold black cap, white rump, and fast, arcing flight. Despite its endangered status, it regularly occurs offshore along the western edge of the Gulf Stream. Once an abundant nester on several Caribbean islands, this species fell prey to invasive animals and overhunting and was thought extinct by the early 1900s. Today they are known to breed only on Hispaniola, despite tantalizing evidence from other islands. At nest sites Black-capped Petrels give eerie moaning calls at night, leading to their colloquial name of “diablotín,” or “little devil.”

More ID Info

Year-roundBreedingMigrationNonbreeding

Range map provided by Birds of the World

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Other Names

Petrel Antillano (Spanish)
Pétrel diablotin (French)

Cool Facts
- Until the 19th century, Black-capped Petrel was a common species that nested on at least four major Caribbean islands (Hispaniola, Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Martinique). But by the early 1900s, the species was thought extinct due to overharvesting by European colonists and predation from introduced mammalian predators. It was rediscovered at breeding colonies in Haiti in 1963 and may also nest on Dominica, Cuba, Guadeloupe, and Jamaica.
- How can it be so hard to find a Black-capped Petrel nest? To avoid predators, these seabirds take major precautions. They keep out of sight by nesting in burrows on very steep mountain slopes, and they only visit their nests after dark, often on moonless nights. Their nests are so difficult to access that one of the few ways to find them is to use dogs to sniff them out.
- Surveys using a portable radar system on Dominica, Guadeloupe, and Jamaica have identified likely Black-capped Petrels visiting mountaintop sites during the breeding season—but no nest sites have yet been found.
- Even though Black-capped Petrels are endangered and only about 100 nests have been located, they are commonly seen at sea, especially in the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina—an intriguing pattern that supports the idea of nesting locations on islands other than Hispaniola.
- Seabird identification is notoriously hard: petrels and shearwaters fly fast, disappear behind wave crests, and come in only a couple of colors. But the Black-capped Petrel stands out as one of the most distinctive—it's been called a "flying field mark"—with its dark head and wings bracketed by a white collar and big white rump patch.