UPDATE June 11th: “Bada” the CahowCam2 chick has fledged, officially ending the 2022/23 CahowCam nesting season. Stay tuned for their return in November of 2023 for the month long nest building and mating period for the start of the 2023/24 season.

This is the homepage for the LIVE-streaming “CahowCams” (link to Cam1 or Cam2) broadcasting from underground nesting burrows of the Bermuda Petrel or "Cahow". They are an IUCN Red Listed, “critically endangered” Lazarus Species, one of the rarest seabirds on the planet that nest only on Nonsuch Island and a few outer rocks in Bermuda. Thought extinct for 300+ years, 17 pairs were re-discovered in the 1950's, since when thanks to a longterm management plan and more recent very successful translocation project they are back up to 185+ pairs. In the most recent 2021/2022 nesting season (the season starts in November of one year and extends to June in the following year) there was a record number of 156 eggs laid (1 per pair, per year) from which 76+ chicks successfully fledged.

2022/23 is the 10th Season that LookBermuda’s Nonsuch Expeditions custom-built “CahowCam” infrared camera systems stream LIVE video from the underground nesting burrows, from Colony “A” on Nonsuch Island in Bermuda; from which over the past few years, over 40 million minutes of footage have been watched by scientists, students, and followers from around the World, now in collaboration with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The current 2022/23 Nesting Season officially started in late October, early November of 2022, when the Cahow pairs returned to their burrows for a month of nest building, courtship and mating. They then headed back to sea for December to feed, and the females returned back in early January 2023 to lay their single egg. If successful, the eggs have been hatching since late February / beginning of March and the chicks then fledge late May /early June, all of which can be followed here. You may also view highlights of the prior record-breaking 2021/22 nesting season further down this page.

To be notified of significant CahowCam events and milestones please sign up for our Newsletter or follow our Facebook page or Twitter feed

A Big Thanks to Horizon Communications for this Season’s wireless internet connection!

CahowCam 1 LiveStream

UPDATE October 25th 2022: Our star pair returned for the start of the 2022/23 nesting season. They spent the first part of November together in the burrow, nest building and mating, until the female headed out to sea to recharge and develop her egg. The male followed a few weeks later and they spent December on the High Seas.

UPDATE January 2nd 2023: We are now awaiting the female’s imminent return, which is generally followed by the laying of her single egg within hours.

UPDATE January 6th 2023: What seems to be the male has now returned and is now waiting for its mate.

UPDATE January 8th 2023 @3:15am: The female has now returned and then as predicted by Jeremy, supported by a decade of CahowCam observations, exactly an hour later she laid her single egg! Watch the Archive Replay

UPDATE March 12th 2023: The CahowCam1 egg was confirmed as infertile early on the season, however the parents have continued to incubate it well past what would have been its hatch date. This evening however the egg appears to have cracked and stuck to the bird that was incubating it, which promptly dragged it out the nest and returned an hour later without it.

ARCHIVE > CahowCam 1 2021 / 2022 (prior) Nesting Season Highlights

ARCHIVE Feb 26th 2022: The hatching process is well underway! First pip was seen @ 2:32 am, three pips @ 3:24 am, a large pip at 4:12 am, then peeping from inside the egg is heard @5:51am, followed by subsequent reveals throughout the day. The entire process can take up to 48hrs. Watch the process unfold through the LIVEstream video below.

ARCHIVE Feb 27th 2022 @ 1:57am: 24 hours from the first pip, our chick has hatched!

ARCHIVE May 21st 2022: The CahowCam 1 chick has been going out at night to exercise and imprint on its surroundings (watch LIVE on CahowCam 3 below) and is expected to fledge in the next few nights.

ARCHIVE May 25th 2022: “Atlas” the newly named CahowCam 1 chick has now fledged! On the night for the 25th after exercising in front of our Surface Cam, she roamed into the shrubery along the coastline, then did not return to burrow so seems to have fledged out of view from our cameras. (See pre-fledging replay below)

As our chick has fledged, the CahowCam1 LIVEstream is now over for the season and will go back live in time for next season’s courtship and mating period in November 2022.

CahowCam 2 LIVESTREAM

Scroll down for the CahowCam2 and SurfaceCam LiveStream Players

UPDATE October 30th: The male has now returned for the start of the 2022/23 nesting season.

UPDATE November 4th @ 9pm: After a suspenseful few days and just missing each other last night, the pair are finally back together. Watch the LIVEstream below.

UPDATE January 15th 2023: What appears to be the male has stayed over for the day and we now await the female’s return over the next few nights, which is generally followed by the laying of her single egg within hours.

UPDATE January 18th 2023: The female retuned @7:17pm, settled in and by 8:05pm she had laid her egg!!!

UPDATE March 8th 2023: The egg has started pipping and if all goes well then chick will hatch within the next few hours / days.

UPDATE March 10th, 2023 @ 12:10 am: We have been hearing sporadic peeps for the past few hours, but the male has been hiding the egg and/or chick so we are not sure if it is calling out from inside the egg, or if it has fully hatched yet…

UPDATE March 10th, 2023 @ 1:46 am: We get the first view of our mostly hatched chick!

UPDATE March 10th, 2023 @ 3:08 am: Its official! We have our 2023 chick!

UPDATE June 1st 2023: Our CahowCam2 chick has been growing well and is about 10 days from fledging. Look into the nest chamber below and if it is empty scroll down to the CahowCam3 Surface Cam to try and catch it wandering around the colony at night exercising and imprinting on its surroundings (unless it is hiding in the tunnel). Around June 8th the team will be on full night watch to try and catch it actually fledging, so stay tuned!

A Big Thanks to Horizon Communications for this Season’s wireless internet connection!

CahowCam 3 “SurfACE CAM” LIVESTREAM

UPDATE June 10 th 2023: “Bada”, our CahowCam2 chick, one of the last in the Colony this Season, has been out exercising the past few nights and was projected to fledge around the 10th. When not seen in the CahowCam2 burrow video above, tune into the SurfaceCam below which the Team will control to remotely track the chick as it roams around the Colony at night until it fledges.

UPDATE June 11th 2023: “Bada” has fledged!!!

UPDATE September 2023: During the offseason whilst the the Cahows are out at sea you may watch the replay footage from the passage of Hurricanes.