Daption capense
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The pintado petrel (Daption capense), also called the Cape petrel, or Cape fulmar, is a common seabird of the Southern Ocean from the family Procellariidae. It is the only member of the genus Daption, and is allied to the fulmarine petrels and the giant petrels. It is an abundant seabird, with an estimated population of around 2 million.
The pintado petrel was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Procellaria capensis. Linnaeus cited the "white and black spotted peteril" that had been described and illustrated in 1747 by the English naturalist George Edwards in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. The pintado petrel is now the only species placed in the genus Daption, introduced in 1826 by English naturalist James Francis Stephens. The genus name Daption is an anagram of the Portuguese name "Pintado" which was given to the species by navigators because of its pied plumage. Pintado is Portuguese and Spanish for "painted". The specific epithet capense signifies the Cape of Good Hope, the locality where the type specimen was collected. The word petrel... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rakiura National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 2 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 3 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Petrel sighting in Galápagos Islands on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 110th most-seen of the 114 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Petrel in Galápagos Islands on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cape Petrel sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Cape Petrel sightings, Galápagos Islands ranks 4th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Rakiura National Park (New Zealand, under 5%), Fiordland National Park (New Zealand, under 5%) and Table Mountain National Park (South Africa, under 5%).
Same family: Procellariidae
The closest relatives of the Cape Petrel that you can see in Galápagos Islands (family Procellariidae, Shearwaters and Petrels) are Galápagos Shearwater (about 50%) and Galápagos Petrel (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cape Petrel is recorded against all the birds logged in Galápagos Islands (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
