Black-capped Petrel (Pterodroma hasitata)
*Scan provided by artist, Mandy Bass.
Specimen collection provided by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Listed as Endangered: 2024
Range: Primarily found over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream off the southeastern United States, particularly from Florida northward to North Carolina.
Habitat: An open-ocean species, the Black-capped Petrel forages over warm, deep waters, especially along the western edge of the Gulf Stream and over seamounts or submarine ridges where turbulence brings prey closer to the surface. Their breeding colonies are restricted to the mountainous regions of Dominican Republic and Haiti. Historically, they may have also nested in burrows on flatter terrain before the introduction of nonnative predators.
Human Impact: The Black-capped Petrel faces multiple threats, including habitat loss due to deforestation and forest fires, predation by the introduction of rats and mongooses, human encroachment, and offshore oil, gas, and wind energy development. The species is highly susceptible to mercury bioaccumulation associated with petroleum production. Artificial lighting from ships and offshore platforms can attract and disorient birds, leading to collisions with wires and structures. Social and economic instability in Haiti, combined with ongoing habitat degradation, has increased the species’ vulnerability to extinction. Climate change is expected to exacerbate threats through more frequent and intense storms, causing burrow flooding and erosion of nesting sites.
Significant Events: Once thought extinct, the Black-capped Petrel was rediscovered in 1963.