Last season the female Cahow (seen above) returned to the CahowCam burrow on January 11th, and promptly re-arranged the nest material before laying her single egg 53 minutes after her return.
UPDATE | 2018 - January 12th 4:27 am after returning at 3:05 am the female has laid her 2018 egg! Details to follow...
Follow our LiveStream to watch this rarest of events LIVE
If you would like to be notified of this and other significant Cahow milestones sign up for our Newsletter and select the CahowCam alert option. If you are already a subscriber open a recent Newsletter and adjust your preferences to select the CahowCam alert option.
Jeremy Maderios | "Last year, the male returned by Jan. 15th, and took over incubation for the next 2 1/2 weeks while the female returned back out to sea to feed and regain her strength. The pair then alternated incubation duties until the egg hatched on March 2nd, 51 days after being laid.
After a record-breaking nesting season last year with 61 chicks fledging out to sea, we seem to be on track for breaking even more records this year. As of January 10th, the Senior Conservation Officer had confirmed that about half the breeding pairs on the nesting islands had so far returned and were incubating eggs, including 9 breeding pairs on Nonsuch Island. The remainder should hopefully return over the next 2 weeks. The majority of incubating adult Cahows he examined were heavier than normal, with some male birds approaching 500 grams in weight. This indicates that the birds had found good feeding conditions north of the Gulf Stream over the last month."