A census of Fea’s Petrel was conducted in the Cape Verde Islands during January and February 1998. Counts were made on three of the four islands where the taxon has historically been known to breed: Fogo, São Nicolau and Santo Antão. The persistence of those colonies previously reported on these islands was confirmed and several undocumented colonies were located. The population on Fogo was c. 80 pairs, on São Nicolau c. 30 pairs and that on Santo Antão c. 200 pairs. The surveys of Fogo and Santo Antão were incomplete, so the population size could be higher there than indicated by the present data. No survey of Santiago was attempted and further surveys are needed to establish the status of Fea’s Petrel in the Cape Verde Islands as a whole. The colonies on Santo Antão and São Nicolau were generally situated on inaccessible cliff faces above dry river valleys, while those on Fogo were among boulders in dry river beds, among rubble and tubes in old lava flows and on cliffs. Fea’s Petrel continues to be threatened by human exploitation and predation by cats and rats, particularly on Fogo and some areas of Santo Antão where the colonies are most accessible.

Atlantic seabirds

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Nederlandse Zeevogelgroep

Norman Ratcliffe, Francis J. Zino, Paulo Oliveira, Amilcar Vasconcelos, Cornelis J. Hazevoet, Henrique Costa Neves, … Elizabeth A. Zino. (2000). The status and distribution of Fea’s Petrel Pterodroma feae in the Cape Verde Islands. Atlantic seabirds, 2(2), 73–86.