Gongon — Cape Verde petrels calling at night over the Fogo caldera and the Santo Antão plateaux
Cape Verde petrel / Fea's petrel (Pterodroma feae), local name 'gongon'; Boyd's shearwater and Cape Verde storm-petrel at lower cliffs. Chã das Caldeiras (Fogo), Chã Dura plateau (Santo Antão), Monte Gordo (São Nicolau), Cabo Verde.
Best time: 15 Jan – 15 Mar (January to March). Where: Portela, Chã das Caldeiras (Fogo), Bangaeira, Chã das Caldeiras (Fogo), Parque Natural de Monte Gordo (São Nicolau) (Cabo Verde). Time of day: First call about an hour after sunset, heaviest in the first 2–3 hours of darkness.
- You can go on your own
- Free
- No binoculars needed
- Sound 4/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 15 Jan – 15 Mar. Mid January to mid March — the winter breeding season; calling still strong in the third week of March
Active from 1 Dec to 30 Apr (December to April) in a typical year.
Time of day
First call about an hour after sunset, heaviest in the first 2–3 hours of darkness; birds still arriving in the small hours and a pre-dawn exodus around 05:00, silent by first light
- Evening calling peak: 1 h after sunset → 23:30
- Pre-dawn exodus: 04:30 → first light
What will you hear?
Steeply descending moans, one to two seconds long, a third ending in a rising squeak, wing-whistles with Doppler shifts and occasional claps as birds beat along the caldera walls 500 m above you. Up to 20 calls a minute at the best São Nicolau pinnacles. Not loud — but one of the rarest night sounds in the Atlantic, with crickets, distant dogs and the volcano's silence under it.
Binoculars?
No binoculars needed. Pitch dark on a mountain; you will hear, not see. A red head-torch for the path; nothing else.
Where to go
- Portela, Chã das Caldeiras (Fogo) — Village inside the caldera at 1,700 m; the largest Fogo colonies (about 35 pairs) are on the western caldera walls above Bangaeira, heard from the rubble slopes above the villages. Map
- Bangaeira, Chã das Caldeiras (Fogo) — Sister village; the cliff colonies are directly above. Guesthouses, guides and the Fogo Natural Park post. Map
- Parque Natural de Monte Gordo (São Nicolau) — The colony is on rock pinnacles on the east side of Monte de Sentinha in the island's centre; dangerous ground — listen from the park paths. Coordinates for the park. Map
- Santo Antão highlands — Chã Dura / Cova area — Largest population in the 1998 census; the Topo de Biôrro colony is above the Ribeira de Água Nova gorge on the Chã Dura plateau at about 1,000 m. Coordinates approximate (Cova crater road); ask in Ribeira Grande for a guide. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Fogo: fly to São Filipe, aluguer up to Chã das Caldeiras (about 1.5 h); sleep in Portela or Bangaeira and walk up the rubble slopes behind the villages after dark. São Nicolau: Monte Gordo park from Cachaço/Ribeira Brava, park paths only. Santo Antão: hire a guide in Ribeira Grande for the Chã Dura plateau. All free; guides optional but wise on lava and cliffs at night.
Cost: Free. Aluguer São Filipe–Chã das Caldeiras a few hundred CVE per seat; a local night guide a few thousand CVE (check current prices).
Field-recording notes
The calls are quiet and the birds high: a parabola or a long shotgun pointed at the cliff line from a wind-sheltered rubble pile is the proven set-up (recordings exist from 160 m above the Fogo crater floor). Wind, mist and a generator 2 km away ruined nights on Santo Antão; dogs bark everywhere. Cloudless, moonless nights in Jan–Mar are best. Do not go to the colonies themselves: terrain is lethal in the dark and the birds are Near Threatened and predated by cats — listen from below. Fogo Natural Park: no permit needed to walk at night, but tell your guesthouse and take a local guide for the lava paths. No playback.
Sources
- The Sound Approach – Fea's Petrel (colony recordings on Fogo, Santo Antão and São Nicolau, timings and call descriptions)
- Bird Conservation International – Cabo Verde seabirds: nocturnal call counts, Cape Verde petrel only on the mountainous islands
- Wikipedia – Cape Verde petrel (breeds on Fogo, Santo Antão, São Nicolau, Santiago; strictly nocturnal at colonies)
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More: all spectacles in Cabo Verde · wildlife at night · January · February · March