Black-capped Petrel
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Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae

[Photo] Black-capped Petrel, Pterodroma hasitata in flight. Location: Gulf Stream off of Hatteras, North Carolina, United States. Source: Photograph taken by Patrick Coin. Date created 2007-06-23. Author: Patrick Coin (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Cotinis).

The Black-capped Petrel (Pterodroma hasitata) is a small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus, Pterodroma. It is also known as the Diablot??n. The extinct Jamaica Petrel (P. caribbaea) was a related dark form, often considered a subspecies of this bird.

This long-winged petrel has a grey-brown back and wings, with a white nape and rump. Underparts are mainly white apart from a black eye patch and some dark underwing makings. It picks planktonic food items from the ocean surface.

The Black-capped Petrel is nocturnal at the breeding sites to avoid predation by gulls. Like most petrels, its walking ability is limited to a short shuffle to the burrow. This seabird breeds on cliffs in the mountains of the Greater Antilles, though recent data places it only on Hispaniola (mainly on the Haitian side of the island). The local name Diablot??n means "little devil", called so because of its night-time habits and the odd-sounding mating calls, which made villagers think of the presence of evil spirits in the dark. A mountain peak where it formerly bred in Haiti is still named Morne Diablotin.

The species, once widespread in the West Indies, is now far less common. It is an uncommon but regular visitor to the southeastern USA, and an extremely rare wanderer to western Europe. Causes for its demise include habitat loss, introduced predators, and direct human harvesting.

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