Zino's Petrel Pelagics Expedition

The Madeira Wind Birds Zino's Petrel Pelagics Expedition is the only dedicated offshore pelagic birding product in the Madeira archipelago, and one of the most scientifically significant seabird pelagics anywhere in the world. Operated by Hugo Romano and Catarina Correia-Fagundes from Machico Harbour on the south-east coast of Madeira aboard their 11-metre rigid-hulled inflatable vessel Oceanodroma — fitted with shock-mitigation seats for comfort on Atlantic swells — the expedition runs across three consecutive afternoons in May, June, and July, each leg spending approximately seven hours on open ocean waters. Chumming with a slick of rendered fish oil and offal is deployed throughout each trip to draw petrels, storm-petrels, and shearwaters into close range for prolonged observation and photography.

The primary target, and the reason this expedition attracts dedicated seabird enthusiasts from across Europe and beyond, is the Zino's Petrel (Pterodroma madeira) — a Critically Endangered gadfly petrel whose entire global breeding population of approximately 150–180 pairs nests exclusively in burrows high in the central massif of Madeira, at elevations between 1,200 and 1,600 metres on the Pico Ruivo plateau. The nesting area is strictly protected and inaccessible to visitors; the only practical way to encounter this species is at sea. Before Hugo Romano and Catarina Correia-Fagundes, in partnership with ornithologist Hadoram Shirihai, began systematically researching Madeiran offshore waters in 2008, reliable at-sea views of Zino's Petrel were almost unknown — the species existed as a ghost bird, nesting in remote mountain darkness and disappearing over the open Atlantic for most of the year. The Madeira Wind Birds team produced the first-ever unequivocal, photographically documented records of Zino's Petrel at sea, establishing the offshore foraging grounds where the species concentrates during the breeding season and developing the chumming protocol that has since become the standard technique for targeting it. The annual pelagic expeditions now routinely produce 6–20 Zino's Petrels per day at peak season, encounters that account for encounters with a meaningful fraction of the global population and represent the most reliable opportunity to see this bird anywhere on Earth.

The three-day structure of the expedition is carefully designed around the seasonal distribution of Madeira's two most sought-after petrel species. Day one searches waters west and north-west of Madeira — the primary foraging zone for Zino's Petrel during the chick-provisioning period — and also targets Madeiran Storm-Petrel (Hydrobates castro, the Madeiran breeding form of the Band-rumped Storm-Petrel complex, sometimes split as a distinct species). Day two shifts focus toward the waters between Madeira and the Desertas Islands, a small uninhabited archipelago lying roughly 25 kilometres south-east of the main island where Fea's/Desertas Petrel (Pterodroma deserta) breeds in globally significant numbers on Bugio Island: encounters with 10–50 or more Desertas Petrels per day are typical. White-faced Storm-Petrel (Pelagodroma marina), a fast-fluttering, long-legged storm-petrel that appears to bounce off the wave surface as it feeds, is also a primary day-two target and is reliably encountered in the channel. Day three is reserved as a flexible session to consolidate views of any species missed, revisit productive areas, or extend time on the water if extraordinary conditions prevail — rare in practice but valuable when a vagrant appears.

Beyond the principal target petrels, the open Atlantic waters off Madeira hold exceptional year-round seabird diversity. Bulwer's Petrel (Bulweria bulwerii), which breeds extensively in the Desertas and Selvagens Islands, is often encountered in staggering numbers — flocks of hundreds or even thousands of the dark, buoyant petrels riding Atlantic thermals are a routine spectacle from May onwards. Cory's Shearwater (Calonectris borealis) — the large, pale-mantled shearwater of the Macaronesian region — is omnipresent, typically seen in the hundreds on each trip. Vagrant Atlantic seabirds turn up with notable regularity: the expedition has logged South Polar Skua, Black-capped Petrel (Pterodroma hasitata — one was recorded on the first pelagic of May 2026, an exceptional record), and multiple species of storm-petrel from both Atlantic and Pacific breeding populations. The rarity potential of these waters reflects Madeira's position at the junction of sub-tropical Atlantic water masses moving north from the Canaries and cooler water pushing south from the Bay of Biscay — a convergence zone that acts as a broad-front migration corridor and foraging magnet for pelagic species crossing the Atlantic basin.

The expedition requires a minimum of four confirmed bookings before a date can proceed; prospective participants should check the current schedule on the Madeira Wind Birds website and confirm availability before booking flights, as popular dates in June fill quickly. The €540 per-person fee covers all three days at sea as a package.