What do you do when you encounter a disoriented cory’s shearwaters

Today early in the morning, one of our lookouts found a young shearwater on his way to work. What should you do in this situation? You have several options: you can pick up the shearwater and give it to the Police or to the Vigilantes da Natureza

They will take care of the bird and release it within the best possible conditions. Or you can pick it up and put it inside a box to set it free early in the morning by the sea. And that’s what we did!  


At this time of the year, it is not rare to find young shearwaters lost or disoriented in unexpected places. Usually, they are young animals, which has just left their nests and are ready (or almost ready!) to undertake their first oceanic journey. When these shearwaters appear on the roads or nearby, we all should help! 

This time, our lookout picked up the shearwater, brought it back to our activity center at Portas do Mar, and we arranged a SOS Shearwater box to keep it while heading to a place to set it free. We went to the north coast of the island and put it out of the box. It was moving around for a while, taking its time, and finally, it opened their wings and started to fly into the open ocean. In spite of their youth, visible because of the kind of feathers on the head and belly, this young shearwater look ready to fly away into its oceanic journey!

Furthermore, we didn’t forget about reporting the encounter on the SOS Cagarro website, where there is a special application to report these situations. Just need some personal information, location and any other comments. Easy for everyone! And helpful for this species!

Rescues Registration – SOS Cagarro check this link 
Learn more about this seabird (migration and reproduction) 


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