Galápagos Petrel: Facts and Where to See It

Galápagos petrels look very like Hawaiian petrels, especially at sea: medium-sized with long wings, grey-black above, white forehead, pink legs with black webbing, a short hooked bill with tube nostrils that meet on top, and a white wedge-shaped tail.

• Faithful. Pairs return to the same nest site and partner each year.
• Burrows. On the rocky slopes of the highlands, 300 to 900 metres above sea level, they nest in burrows or natural cavities.
• Shared shifts. The male takes the first incubation shift so the female can recover; chicks hatch after about two months and are fed by both parents.

At sea, petrels forage mostly around the east and north of the archipelago and range as far as western Central America and northern South America. In the breeding season they nest in the highlands of Santa Cruz, Floreana, Santiago, San Cristóbal and Isabela.

Guide sighting records list the petrel at 1 site: the Santa Cruz Highlands, rated Rare and noted as usually seen only out at sea. The likeliest view is from the boat between islands, low over the waves.

Petrels forage offshore all year; the breeding season runs from late April to October. In the next twelve months, 453 departures stop at the site where they are recorded.

Yes, it is listed as Critically Endangered. The population is thought to have fallen by up to 80 percent since the 1980s. Rats eat eggs and chicks, and feral dogs, cats and pigs take adults; livestock trample and graze nest sites, and land is cleared for farming. El Niño affects nesting and food, and the natural predators, the Galápagos hawk and the short-eared owl, take adults.

Recovery. Invasive animals are controlled and the national park monitors nests. A survey on Santa Cruz in 2016 found petrels back at nest sites unused for decades, and the population is now estimated at 8,500 pairs. The Floreana restoration will also help.

1. Searching on land. Nests are in burrows on remote highland slopes; look at sea.
2. Confusing it with other seabirds. Look for the white forehead and white wedge-shaped tail.
3. Counting on a sighting. The guide records rate it Rare.