This seabird spends most of its life far out over the Atlantic, skimming low over waves with quick, stiff wingbeats and graceful glides. Up close, it’s a handsome bird: dark on top, pale underneath, with a clean-looking face and a strong, hooked bill built for life at sea. What makes it especially distinctive isn’t just its looks, though—it’s the way it lives like a true ocean wanderer, returning to land only to breed. And when it does come ashore, it does something surprisingly “un-birdlike”: it nests in burrows and rocky crevices, hidden away rather than out in the open.

What truly sets the Bermuda petrel apart from other petrels is its incredible connection to one place and one dramatic comeback. It breeds naturally only in Bermuda, and it is famous for being “lost” for centuries and then found again. For a long time, people assumed it was gone forever because early human settlement brought predators and habitat damage that wiped out many nesting colonies. Unlike many of its relatives that breed on remote, predator-free islands across wide ranges, the Bermuda petrel had to survive close to people and introduced animals. That made its nesting style—tucked into rock crevices—both a strength (harder for some predators to reach) and a weakness (limited safe spaces). The cahow’s identity is also tied to sound: it’s known for eerie, wailing calls at night near nesting areas, the kind of ghostly chorus that can make a dark coastline feel alive.

In daily life, the Bermuda petrel is built for long-distance travel and patient searching. It feeds over open water on small fish and squid, grabbing prey from the surface or just beneath it. It often forages over deep ocean, using wind and wave patterns like a map. Petrels have a special advantage at sea: they can drink salty water thanks to salt-removing glands near their eyes, which helps them stay out on the ocean for long stretches.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Bahamas

2018

Vagrant

Bermuda

2018

Breeding

Canada

2018

Seasonality Uncertain

Portugal

2018

Vagrant: Azores

United States

2018

Non-Breeding