“Lua de Mel no Corvo” nest was predated

During the night between the 30th - 31st of July, the Cory's Shearwater chick that we were following with a webcam on the webpage “Lua de Mel no Corvo” was predated. The other two nests that were in the same barn also lost their chicks. This is a critical developmental period for the Cory's Shearwater nestlings, as they are particularly vulnerable to predators that decimate seabird colonies during this time.

The above photo depicts a predated chick at the entrance of the barn where was located the nest that we were following on the page http://cagarro.spea.pt . All the chicks were preyed upon by a domestic cat that was captured in photos from our video surveillance.

This event just proves the importance of continuing with our project “Safe Islands for Seabirds - LIFE07 NAT/P/000649 and upon completion, the necessity for project partners to develop an effective plan to control predators on the island.