The Cape Verde shearwater, or cagarra locally, is a medium-large shearwater, a seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. It is endemic to the Cape Verde archipelago of Macaronesia in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of West Africa.
Region
Eastern Tropical Atlantic (Macaronesia and West African waters)
Typical Environment
Breeds on arid, rocky islets with cliffs and scree in the Cape Verde archipelago. Outside the breeding season it is pelagic, ranging widely over the tropical and subtropical eastern Atlantic and along the West African upwelling zones. Birds often forage over continental shelf edges, oceanic fronts, and productive current systems, sometimes following fishing vessels. At colonies it uses burrows, rock crevices, or sheltered ledges for nesting.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 400 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The Cape Verde shearwater, locally called cagarra, breeds only on a few small islets of the Cape Verde archipelago and spends most of its life far out at sea. It performs long, low arcs over the ocean using dynamic soaring and often forages along productive upwelling zones. Adults visit nesting colonies mostly at night to avoid predators and human disturbance. Like other large shearwaters, it lays a single egg and pairs are long-lived and strongly philopatric.
Temperament
colonial and nocturnally vocal
Flight Pattern
soaring glider with long, stiff-winged arcs close to the waves
Social Behavior
Nests in dense colonies on predator-poor islets, using burrows, rock crevices, or ledges. Pairs are monogamous, often for life, and lay a single egg with both parents sharing incubation and chick-rearing. Adults attend colonies mainly at night to reduce predation and disturbance, while by day they are at sea foraging.
Migratory Pattern
Seasonal migrant
Song Description
At colonies it gives eerie, wailing and cackling calls, mostly at night, sometimes in duets between partners. At sea it is generally quiet, emitting only occasional low calls in close interactions.
