Chris Scaife writes from Madeira
the zino’ s cry Chris Scaife
The Zino’ s Cry
Chris Scaife writes from Madeira
The Zino’ s petrel, or Freira, is one of
Europe’ s rarest birds. In fact, by the mid-twentieth century, it was believed to be extinct; but having been rediscovered in 1969 it is now considered a Lazarus species. Once it has fledged, the Zino’ s spends the first four years of its life – and the rest of its non-breeding season days – at sea, flying at speed across the Atlantic waves. This bird has a wide pelagic range and, although almost indistinguishable in flight from the other Macaronesian gadfly petrels, Fea’ s and Desertas, the first confirmed British record came from a Scilly Isles boat trip in July 2020. To experience the sights and sounds of a breeding colony, however, there is only one place to visit.
Anyone who has been to Madeira will know that this is a land of jagged rocky peaks as much as cerulean waters, so perhaps it is fitting that in order to see the island’ s rarest seabirds I spent the night high up in the mountains. I joined guides Catarina and Hugo, who run the responsible wildlife tour company Madeira Wind Birds, for a night on Pico do Areeiro, the island’ s third highest peak.
In the gloaming, we set off along a paved walkway, looking down upon a cloud inversion. We passed some candelabra of Pride of Madeira, the endemic shrub coming to the end of its flowering season; but at this altitude there were still one or two blue inflorescences. As the path wound its way along the rocky terrain, we met some Zino’ s researchers, the only others allowed out here at night. A little farther along the ridge we stopped and Catarina pointed out the nesting sites: a ledge just below us, another over near the researchers and a couple on a nearby summit. There are about 85 nests in total, and that is the entire world’ s breeding population, all within this tiny radius.
Hugo mentioned that the chicks had begun to hatch just a few days earlier, so the activity was likely to be quite intense. The mere sliver of crescent moon meant it was darker than normal, so the birds were likely to fly higher above the ground than on lighter nights and we had a strong chance of seeing their silhouettes. This all boded well.
With all traces of twilight gone, we heard a haunting wail from below. Bird songs and calls cover a whole range of different sounds, but the Zino’ s cry might just be the ghostliest of them all. This single howl was followed by ten minutes of silence, in which I remained naïve as to the true wonders that awaited. Then I had to duck as one almost flew into me.
From that moment, the cries permeated the still night. We heard the low, moaning wails of the females and the higher screeching sounds of the males. There were distant howls as the birds returned to land from the sea, and cries all around us as they moved towards their nesting sites. With so few of these birds in the world, it is incredible that they can produce such a clamour.
I saw two more silhouettes with the naked eye, the petrels beating their wings rapidly as they flew in front of us. Hugo then handed me a thermal imaging camera and through this I was able to see eight individuals flitting about by one of their nesting ledges.
Spending time under the stars on a mountaintop, at a comfortable temperature, is always enjoyable. When that time is spent in the propinquity of such a rare bird, which treated us to occasional glimpses and a spectral chorus, this becomes one of the world’ s great wildlife experiences.
8 OUTDOOR FOCUS FOCUS Spring Autumn 2025 2025