NONSUCH NEST BURROW #832 - Night of January 18th
“Here are my observations on the nest invasion by the prospecting Cahow earlier tonight: - Night of 18th Jan. 2020
The resident Cahow pair (Male E0174 bird and Female E0172 bird) were resting quietly together in the CahowCam 2 nest, with the female bird incubating the egg laid on the previous night;
At 8.02.38 pm, the surface cam caught an adult Cahow walking into view from the left (uphill), to the top of the R832 nest burrow entrance; it sits there for some time, preens briefly and opens wings briefly.
At 8.06.30 pm, another Cahow flies over the Cahow on the ground.
At 8.08.10 pm, Cahow climbs down in front of R832 nest entrance, looks in, and goes into tunnel by 8.08.55 pm.
Inside the nest chamber, where the 2 resident Cahows are resting quietly, the intruder Cahow appears at 8.13.15 pm, enters the nest chamber, and immediately jumps on the female, grabbing the back of her head in its bill. The large resident male immediately jumps across and grabs the head of the intruder, with loud calls by all birds, and a brief but vicious fight breaks out, with the female also appearing to join the attack on the intruder. This struggle lasts about 45 seconds with all 3 birds embroiled in a confusion of flapping wings, at which time the intruder breaks loose and quickly runs back out through the entrance tunnel. In the confusion, the resident male appears to mistakenly grab the resident female (his mate) by the head in his bill for several seconds before he realizes his mistake, releases her and runs out after the intruder into the entrance tunnel at 8.14 pm.”
WARNING - Watching attached video might prove distressing to some viewers - WARNING
“At 8.14.06pm, the surface cam then records the intruder emerging from the entrance chased by the resident male, who does not come out, but goes back into the nest to the female once he is sure that the intruder has gone.
By 8.15.30 pm, The intruder bird then scuttles quickly down the trail behind the R832 nest entrance, away from the nest and towards the next group of nest burrows.
Back inside the nest chamber, the female appears shaken and quickly gets back on the egg, which looks undamaged; the resident male returns into the nest chamber a minute later, and is quite protective around the female - both make repeated short quiet high cheeps - indicating perhaps anxiety, distress, reassurance? Things gradually settle back down and the intruder does not reappear.
After reviewing both the CahowCam 2 burrow-cam and the surface cam a number of times, it appears that the intruder was a prospecting unattached young Cahow, most likely a male, which has recently returned as an adult and is looking for a nest burrow to claim and then try and attract a mate to.
All the best, Jeremy”
Jeremy Madeiros, Senior Conservation Officer (Terrestrial), Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources, BERMUDA
UPDATE from Nonsuch Expeditions Team: “The pair and their egg seem to be fine after the incident, however we will be conducting a nest / health check on Sunday morning and will update this page shortly thereafter.”