For the second time in 3 years, Stormy defends the now empty CahowCam 2 burrow from an invading Land Crab.
In a rematch from his first battle in 2017 “Stormy” a very lost, lonely Storm Petrel promptly evicted the Land Crab which was most likely scavenging for food in what it expected to be an empty burrow.
Historically as has now been proven by the Live Streaming CahowCams, Land Crabs will wait until the chicks have fledged and the nest is empty before coming in to scavenge for anything edible, including left over food, failed eggs and detritus, effectively cleaning out the burrow.
Stormy also used to wait for the nest to be empty before moving in, however this year much to the confusion of the Cahow pair, their extremely patient chick and 10’s of thousands of viewers from around the World he showed up several weeks early and refused to leave.
The chick fledged several weeks ago and he is now back to nest building and calling out all night long to attract a mate.
Good Luck Stormy!