First nest colony of Ringed Storm-petrel found in the Atacama Desert
Ringed Storm-petrel Hydrobates hornbyi (Hornby's Storm-petrel) was one of the few species of seabirds in the world whose nesting sites remained unknown, one of the most intriguing mysteries of the neotropical ornithology that remained unresolved. Until now that is.
After years of searching, an expedition by members of the Bird and Wildlife Observers Network of Chile (or ROC) finally discovered the first nesting colony near Diego de Almagro (Atacama Region)! More than 70 kilometers from the coast!
In the middle of the desert of Atacama, the most arid in the world, dozens of natural cavities were found under salt scabs with obvious use by this species endemic to the Humboldt current.
Ringed Storm-petrel is classified globally as Data Deficient by Bird Life International (2017) due to the lack of information on its nesting sites, so finding its colonies is a basal input for its conservation.
This important finding will help researchers from ROC to understand how their nesting sites are, and from this they will be able to find new colonies, learn more about their reproductive ecology and evaluate the threats that are faced in their reproductive strategy in the desert.
ROC are currently organizing the next prospecting campaigns to expand this discovery, in addition they writing the scientific article in which more details of this expected discovery will be given.
30 May 2017
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