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Longtail chick hatches on camera

The longtail chick which hatched yesterday on Nonsuch Island (Photograph supplied)

The hatching of a longtail chick was captured live on camera this week.

Jean-Pierre Rouja, team leader at Nonsuch Expeditions, said the “Cam chick” arrived on Tuesday from one of the earliest longtail egg layings recorded.

The chick’s growth will be filmed over the next few months on the new LongtailCam stream from Nonsuch Island.

Most longtail eggs do not hatch until June or July and the chicks remain in the nest until late August or September. Longtails — also known as white-tailed tropicbirds — spend most of their life at sea and only come to land to breed.

The longtail is Bermuda’s only remaining common seabird, with more than 3,500 breeding pairs nesting during the spring and summer months.

More than 600 breeding pairs nest on the Castle Islands Nature Reserve, including about 200 pairs on Nonsuch Island.

The chick can be seen at www.nonsuchisland.com/live-tropicbird-cam.