Pterodroma hasitata

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	PROCELLARIIFORMES	PROCELLARIIDAE

Scientific Name:

Pterodroma hasitata

Species Authority:

(Kuhl, 1820)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Black-capped Petrel

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Endangered B2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v) ver 3.1

Year Published:

2010

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Calvert, R., Butchart, S., Bird, J.

Contributor/s:

Levesque, A., Fernandez, E., Lee, D., Feldmann, P., Demarest, D., Gerwin, J., Villard, P.

Justification:
This species is classified as Endangered because it has a very small, fragmented and declining breeding range and population. It has already been extirpated from some sites, and declines are likely to continue as a result of habitat loss and degradation, hunting and invasive predators.

History:

2008	–	Endangered
2007	–	Endangered
2004	–	Endangered
2000	–	Endangered
1996	–	Endangered
1994	–	Endangered
1988	–	Not Recognized

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Pterodroma hasitata now breeds in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. There are an estimated 1,000 breeding pairs^3,4, mostly in the Massifs de la Selle and de la Hotte, southern Haiti⁶, but records at-sea suggest that the population is over 5,000 individuals⁹. The area of suitable habitat in the Pic Macaya region of Massif de la Hotte is estimated to be 5 km², with a similar area in La Visite, Massif de la Selle (the majority of colonies are found within a 10 km stretch spanning a 500 m elevational range on the north side of the ridge; two more colonies are located further to the east, span 5 km, again within a 500 m elevation range)¹⁰. Small numbers have been recently recorded on Dominica and in adjacent offshore waters, suggesting that it may still nest⁶. It now seems likely that small numbers breed in Cubabased on observation in the Sierra Maestra region (a congregation of 40+ individuals in the vicinity of shoreline, vocalisations heard overhead by landbased observers, and evidence of birds moving inland)¹¹. It is believed extinct on Guadeloupe (to France) (where common in the 19th century)⁶. Black-capped petrel may have bred on Martinique (to France)⁶. Even during the breeding season it is highly pelagic, with breeding condition birds recorded off the North Carolina coast, USA^3,4. Birds disperse over the Caribbean and Atlantic from the north-east USA to north-east Brazil, with four records in European waters⁸, but the at-sea range has contracted in the north and west.
Countries:	Native: Bahamas; Costa Rica; Cuba; Dominican Republic; Haiti; United States; United States; United States Vagrant: Aruba; Barbados; Bermuda; Cayman Islands; Colombia; Jamaica; Netherlands Antilles; Nicaragua; Puerto Rico; United Kingdom; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S. Present - origin uncertain: Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Dominica; French Guiana; Grenada; Guyana; Honduras; Montserrat; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin (French part); Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; Turks and Caicos Islands; Venezuela
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	Brooke (2004)
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Population:

Brooke (2004)

Population Trend:

Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It nests (starting in December) colonially in cliff burrows, often within montane forest at 1,500-2,000 m, but up to 2,300 m in the Dominican Republic⁷. Nesting birds commute large distances from breeding to foraging sites³. It is primarily nocturnal and crepuscular, feeding on fish, invertebrate swarms, fauna associated with Sargassum seaweed reefs³, and squid⁵. It is attracted to localised upwellings, where the mixing of surface and deep oceanic waters produces nutrient-rich areas³.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Marine

Habitat and Ecology:

It nests (starting in December) colonially in cliff burrows, often within montane forest at 1,500-2,000 m, but up to 2,300 m in the Dominican Republic⁷. Nesting birds commute large distances from breeding to foraging sites³. It is primarily nocturnal and crepuscular, feeding on fish, invertebrate swarms, fauna associated with Sargassum seaweed reefs³, and squid⁵. It is attracted to localised upwellings, where the mixing of surface and deep oceanic waters produces nutrient-rich areas³.

Systems:

Terrestrial; Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Habitat destruction and hunting for food have caused this species's decline, and remain key threats in Haiti. Birds are also predated by introduced mammals. Urbanisation and concomitant increases in artificial lights may dazzle or disorientate birds into colliding with trees, wires and buildings⁵. A telecommunications mast with stay wires erected in 1995 on Loma de Toro in Sierra de Bahoruco (the only known nesting locality in the Dominican Republic) poses a collision hazard¹². The proposed development of gas/oil fields off the coast of South Carolina, USA, could devastate this important feeding area³.

Major Threat(s):

Habitat destruction and hunting for food have caused this species's decline, and remain key threats in Haiti. Birds are also predated by introduced mammals. Urbanisation and concomitant increases in artificial lights may dazzle or disorientate birds into colliding with trees, wires and buildings⁵. A telecommunications mast with stay wires erected in 1995 on Loma de Toro in Sierra de Bahoruco (the only known nesting locality in the Dominican Republic) poses a collision hazard¹². The proposed development of gas/oil fields off the coast of South Carolina, USA, could devastate this important feeding area³.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Conservation Actions Underway It breeds within national parks in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. On Guadeloupe, five surveys for the species have been conducted since the late 1980s¹. Efforts have been made to define the at-sea distribution off the USA³. Conservation Actions Proposed Survey to accurately determine the status and distribution of the species and its habitat^3,5. Halt human exploitation. Develop measures to remove introduced predators. Effectively protect the species and its nesting grounds. List the species in the USA under the Federal Endangered Species Act³.

Conservation Actions:

Conservation Actions Underway
It breeds within national parks in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. On Guadeloupe, five surveys for the species have been conducted since the late 1980s¹. Efforts have been made to define the at-sea distribution off the USA³.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Survey to accurately determine the status and distribution of the species and its habitat^3,5. Halt human exploitation. Develop measures to remove introduced predators. Effectively protect the species and its nesting grounds. List the species in the USA under the Federal Endangered Species Act³.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2010. Pterodroma hasitata. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 May 2012.
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