Cahow researchers are glued to their screens this week as they await the hatching of the latest chick on Nonsuch Island.

JP Rouja, founder of Nonsuch Expeditions, said the egg featured on the CahowCam2 livestream was spotted “pipping” on Sunday, indicating that the hatching was imminent.

Mr Rouja said: “The countdown is in for the livestream hatching of the CahowCam2 chick, which is now projected to hatch by March 10, so please keep watching the livestream page.

“The CahowCam1 pair’s egg unfortunately failed this year, but the cameras have revealed the potential causes and associated behaviours.”

Mr Rouja added that, as with last year, there was some drama and speculation about if the male occupant of the nest, Sampson, was actually the chick’s father.

He said: “Its mother once again arrived earlier than Sampson for their fall courting and nest building period and engaged with another male for a few days of ‘ex-pair mating’ before he was violently evicted upon Sampson’s return.

“The potential chick’s paternity is therefore in question which will be addressed through a paternity test as part of the genomic population study being conducted by BioQuest, which is revealing insights into the hidden behaviours of this traditionally thought to be monogamous species.”

Mr Rouja said the egg was among the last to be laid this season with the majority of eggs now having hatched.

“As of last count both the Nonsuch and Horn Rock colonies each had at least 17 confirmed chicks with at least five more accessible eggs being still viable with many having started pipping.

Cahows, also known as Bermuda petrels, were largely wiped out by introduced predators and hunting by early English colonists and, by the 1620s, the species was believed to be extinct.

However, it was rediscovered in 1951, with a handful of the birds found nesting on four rarely visited rocky islets, which sparked efforts to rebuild the population.

As part of the project, man-made burrows were created on Nonsuch Island, with chicks translocated to the sanctuary in the hope that they would return to Nonsuch as adults.

The project has borne fruit, with 23 of the 78 chicks fledging last year coming from the Nonsuch colony.

To view the CahowCam2 livestream, visit www.nonsuchisland.com.