Black-capped Petrel

Status One sight record. A bird was reported to have been near the edge of the Scotian Shelf, some 140 km south by southeast of Cape Sable, on 14 July 1972 (Finch 1972).

Remarks This petrel's plumage pattern is similar to that of the larger Greater Shearwater, but the Black-capped Petrel's smaller extent of dark on the crown, broader wings, and swooping and soaring glides easily distinguish it.

It was thought to have been exterminated until a small colony was discovered in 1964 on inland cliffs on Haiti. It now occurs regularly in summer at the edge of the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras and occasionally north to Georges Bank. Our only sighting is consistent with this pattern of distribution.