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The Desertas petrel chases hurricanes, which churn up food for an easy meal. Credit: Christoph Moning, CC BY 4.0
When a hurricane or tropical storm rolls through, most birds fly around it, or find refuge in the calm “eye” at its center. But not the Desertas petrel. It can ride out the storm, then follow the system for days—all to catch an easy meal.
The petrel nests on a tiny, craggy island off the northwestern coast of Africa. There are only a few hundred of the birds, which are about the size of a pigeon. They’re strong fliers: every year they make a 7500-mile round-trip to the eastern North Atlantic Ocean.
Researchers attached GPS devices to 33 petrels. They tracked the birds for several weeks a year for four years. And they compared the birds’ movements to the paths of six hurricanes during those periods. And they got a surprise: About a third of the birds followed the storms—something that no other ocean-going birds have ever been seen to do. Some of the petrels stuck with the hurricanes for up to five days and 1500 miles.
The reason appears to be food. The hurricanes churned up the ocean, bringing water packed with nutrients to the surface. And that probably attracted some of the petrels’ favorite foods: squid and small fish and crustaceans.
The birds normally have to wait for night for these creatures to rise to the surface. But during the storms, there should have been an abundant supply near the surface around the clock. And the smorgasbord could’ve continued for days—providing a good reason for Desertas petrels to tag along.
