CHBC April Meeting – Kate Sutherland – Saving a Species from Extinction

On Monday, April 24, Kate Sutherland will present “The Fabled Cahow: Saving a Lazarus Species from Extinction” for the Chapel Hill Bird Club. The Zoom lines will open at 7:15 pm, and the meeting will beginat 7:30 pm.

A species that "returns from the dead" is dubbed a Lazarus species. The Bermuda Petrel (Pterodromacahow), locally known as the Cahow, was believed to be extirpated by the 1620s. In 1951, after being presumed extinct for more than 330 years, the Cahow was rediscovered, but only barely: just seven pairs, all nesting in one location in Bermuda. Kate Sutherland will share the remarkable story of how a handful of dedicated individuals pulled the Cahow back from the brink of extinction and have turned the species into a conservation success story like no other.

Kate Sutherland moved to Hatteras, NC, in 2001 to work for Seabirding, a company that runs pelagic birding tours in the Gulf Stream and has the enigmatic Black-capped Petrel as their signature species. In 2016 she also began helping Bob Flood lead the Cahow Experience, a tour in Bermuda to see the highly endangered Bermuda Petrel. Her niche is seabirds, so offshore is her habitat. She is currently working on her master's in marine biology at University of North Carolina Wilmington, investigating the foraging ecology of Black-capped Petrels.

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvcumsrj4vHdI0OJuBRjnw592I5sVc7pDt

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.