The reestablishment of the cahow and the relocation project has seen some major successes in the past year. Government Conservation Officer Jeremy Madeiros recently gave an update on the status of the bird, and the surprising reasons why it has done so well.Centuries ago, at night, the ghostly sound and sight of a mysterious sea bird that soared and moaned off the east end of the Island was a harbinger of the festive season.Fishermen called it “the Christmas bird”. And others did too those who believed their tales.Conservation officer Jeremy Madeiros explained: “This unexplained phenomenon originally was noticed from the 18th century to the early part of the 20th century.“Fishermen were out fishing, and would stay out for a couple of days. Very few do it these days, but back at that time, especially during the 1800s and early 1900s, fishermen off the east end would fish at night for deep water snapper.“They were very observant, and some reported hearing this unusual bird a sea bird only at night at that time of year, off Cooper's Island in particular. That is why it's called the Christmas bird. They asked if it could be a cahow. The experts said 'no' the consensus was that the cahow was gone.”Indeed, from the Island's earliest days of settlement, there had been concern about the cahow, in the same way that there had been anxiety about the rapidly declining turtle population in Bermuda's waters, and it was these worries that led to the earliest environmental legislation in the world.“In fact, in 1618 or 1619, we have a proclamation against 'the spoil and havoc of the cahow'. It was very early conservation legislation, but it was too late. By 1620, 1625 the cahow was thought to be extinct.“The cahow had been thought to have been extinct since 1625 Captain John Smith reported in his diaries The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles that the cahows were all gone.So, it was thought instead that the birds the fishermen were hearing might be a Shearwater or a similar species.”The Shearwater is also a petrel, and looks like a cahow, although it is a bit bigger.“The Audubon Shearwater used to nest here in the 1960s and 70s and made a sound like 'Plimlico',” he explained.“But, the fishermen knew that this was something unusual; it was a bird that came at night. The irony is that we now know the fishermen were correct and this is a great Christmas present to Bermuda and today the cahow is surviving and recovering well, as well as being such an important part of Bermuda's history.”It's been more than 50 years since the cahow project began, and the successes, which began haltingly, are now increasingly frequent.“This year, our first highlight is that we are approaching 100 pairs of cahows. Last season, we were up to 92 nesting pairs a new record high number. They produced more than 50 chicks, which is way up from the 18 pairs and eight fledged chicks when management started.“Those numbers have doubled in the past ten years, since I took over. In fact, the numbers are doubling every ten years. These birds have an extraordinarily high survival rate of chicks fledging, or going out to sea, of any species.“Usually it is ten to 15 percent, perhaps 30 percent. But the cahow is at 35 percent and up to 50 percent! We band them, so we know exactly which ones are fledging. It's just a phenomenal survival rate.“Now the cahow is on Nonsuch, and the translocated birds are not paying attention to our schedule they are at the point we hoped to be at in 15 to 20 years from now,” said a delighted Mr. Madeiros.