Zino's Petrel a brief history | ||
Birds restricted to
islands are susceptible to extinction, and burrow or ground-nesting birds
are particularly vulnerable to introduced mammalian predators. Human intervention
has also played a vital part. Birds have been used as a source of food,
and in more recent times the rarer species have suffered from specimen
and egg collection. The island of Madeira and its resident species, which
include the endemic Zino's Petrel or Madeira freira, Pterodroma madeira,
are no exception. From subfossil evidence, this bird was once abundant.
It was first recorded in 1903, and was already limited to the high central
mountain massif of Madeira. By the middle of the century it was considered
extinct, but a relict population was rediscovered in 1969 by Alec Zino,
who, having recorded the calls of Fea's Petrels, Pterodroma feae,
on Bugio reasoned that if Padre Ernesto Schmitz had not been able to distinguish
Pterodroma feae & madeira, in 1903 when a shepherd brought
him a bird from the high mountains above St Antonio, then maybe their
calls were also similar. He played the Bugio calls to the shepherds in
the area. Most were unable to identify the sound. Then a man called Lucas
said he knew the sound from near Pico do Cidrão. After much more
investigation the breeding colonies were found. Here
you'll find four photos on Zino's Petrel» Acknowledgements References Zino, F.& Biscoito, M (1994) Breeding seabirds in the Madeira Archipelago. Pp.172-185 in D. N. Nettleship, J.Burger and M. Gochfield, eds. Seabirds on Islands: threats, case studies and action plans. Cambridge,U.K.: BirdLife International (BirdLife Conservation Series nº1). Zino, F., Biscoito, M. & Zino, P. (1994) Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae. In Birds in Europe: their Conservation Status. (eds G. Tucker & M. Heath) pp.60-61. BirdLife International, Cambridge,UK Zino, F., Biscoito, M. & Zino, P. (1994) Zino's Petrel, Pterodroma madeira. In Birds in Europe: their Conservation Status. (eds G. Tucker & M. Heath) pp.62-63. BirdLife International, Cambridge,UK. Zino, F., Heredia, B. & Biscoito, M.(1996) Action plan for Fea's Petrel (Pterodroma feae). In Globally threatened birds in Europe, Action plans. (Eds: Borja Heredia, Laurence Rose & Mary Painter.) pp:25-31 Council of Europe Publishing. Zino, F., Heredia,
B. & Biscoito, M.(1996) Action plan for Zino's Petrel(Pterodroma madeira).
In Globally threatened birds in Europe, Action plans. (Eds: Borja Heredia,
Laurence Rose & Mary Painter.) pp:33-39 Council of Europe Publishing. Back to the seabird page |
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