Nest observations of egg laying by Jeremy Madeiros Principle Scientist - Terrestrial Conservation, Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources, BERMUDA
NONSUCH ISLAND - Translocation Colony A - Burrow # R832 | CahowCam 2
Night of 13/14th January | The male, E0174 Cahow had returned; when checked on Thursday the 16th his weight was 453 grams;
1.57 am | The female, E0172 Cahow returned at , and joined the male in the nest chamber; mutual calls, male preens female;
2.37 am | The male has gone into the entrance tunnel to the nest, and the female starts egg-laying. Female spreads tail and gives short grunt at the end of every push/contraction while the egg passes through the cloaca;
2.40 am | The egg is laid - the female looks under her belly, then settles onto the egg;
* (this is the shortest time between arrival by the female and her laying her egg that has yet been recorded; 43 minutes from arrival to egg-laying)
3.00 am | Male Cahow comes back into nest chamber, gently nudges the female off the egg, and settles on the egg by 3.02 am;
3.03 am | Not to be outdone, the female almost immediately pushes the larger male back off the egg and settles back on the egg for the rest of the night, while the male settles back next to her; they stay together this way for most of the remainder of the night.
Fascinating observations and we will continue to observe; it will be interesting to see if the female heads back out to sea tomorrow night and turns over egg incubation to the male, as happened with the CahowCam 1 (R831) nest, or if she stays on for a few days.