Long exposure of the village of Vila do Corvo at night during the blackout. Only the security lights will remain on, and everything will be surrounded by darkness. For residents, it is not mandatory to turn off their household lights, but many of them choose to do so consciously. Corvo Island, 2025

Leonardo Xavier is one of the young volunteers who actively participate in capturing the disoriented birds around the village. He is not afraid to catch the Cory’s shearwaters with his own hands, he says. Corvo Island, 2024

The cliff where most of the Cory’s shearwater nests are located. Unlike many birds, they nest inside rock crevices. These birds are monogamous and habitual, returning to the same nest each year. They lay a single egg per breeding season, with the chick being incubated by both adults for about 50 days. The breeding cycle culminates with the fledging of the young around October. Corvo Island, 2024

A Cory's shearwater in its artificial nest. Since 2021, the municipality of Vila do Corvo, in collaboration with SPEA (Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds), has been working to recreate a colony by expanding the number of nests in Corvo Biological Reserve. Corvo Island, 2024

Tania Pipa, a Marine Biologist from SPEA, checks each artificial and natural nest on the island to ensure there are Cory's Shearwaters to monitor. Born and raised on São Miguel Island, she travels to Corvo Island every year to follow the entire process of reproduction and conservation of Cory’s shearwaters. "To me, the day I don't hear Cory's shearwater in the Azores, it will certainly not be the Azores, " she says. Corvo Island, 2024

Aerial view of Vila do Corvo, the only village on the island. The settlement, home to around 450 inhabitants, occupies only about half a square kilometer, while the whole island covers around 17 km². Corvo lies deep in the North Atlantic, approximately 1850 km off continental Europe, making it one of the most remote inhabited islands associated with Europe. The short runway allows operations only for a limited range of small aircraft, increasing the island’s inaccessibility. Frequent adverse weather can at times leave even residents stranded, unable to leave or return. Corvo Island, 2025

Perhaps the saddest part of the fieldwork on Corvo Island: every year, several Cory's shearwater suffer severe collisions with buildings after becoming disoriented by light pollution from houses that keep their lights on at night, which might be fatal. The encouraging news is that, since the adoption of blackout measures, this phenomenon has become far less frequent than in the past, when even public lighting remained on. Corvo Island, 2024

The lighthouse of Vila do Corvo's harbor is one of the few lights that remain on during the blackout nights. Corvo Island, 2024

A close-up of the webbed foot of the Cory's shearwater. Its structure helps these birds swim underwater during hunting sessions. To catch fish, Cory's shearwaters dive at high speeds into the water, reaching depths of up to 5 meters and holding their breath for up to a minute. Corvo Island, 2024

At nearly 2 a.m., the dedicated young volunteers remain engaged in their important work, assisting with the enumeration of the recovered individuals. Their commitment to this vital task is commendable and reflects their strong sense of responsibility for their future. With a smile, Tania says that the following day the children will end up on their desks instead of paying attention at school. Corvo Island, 2024

During night patrols, once birds are recovered, researchers conduct a census, recording the number of individuals, along with sex, weight, peak length, and wingspan. The rescued Cory's shearwaters are then fitted with a metal ring engraved with a unique serial code and placed around one leg. This identification will prove invaluable over time: by linking future observations to the original census, scientists can reconstruct age and life history. In one remarkable case, a biologist in South Africa found a Cory's shearwater that had already been recorded forty years earlier. Corvo Island, 2024

A citizen points out to the volunteers a Cory's Shearwater that ended up on his property. All the persons on Corvo, although not actively participating in the initiative, are very available and sensitive to this theme. Corvo Island, 2024.

For SPEA data collection is fundamental. Systematic monitoring of Cory's shearwater on the Island provides the scientific basis for every conservation decision. Corvo Island, 2024.

A newborn chick of Cory's Shearwater. Corvo Island, 2025

Pedro Domingos, one of the founders of the NGO "SOS Cagarros" (SOS Cory's Shearwaters), was one of the first citizens of Corvo in 1991 to take the initiative to save Cory's shearwaters, patrolling the village of Vila do Corvo on his own. Over the years, his initiative was gradually adopted by an increasing number of people, becoming a model for all the other islands. Corvo Island, 2024

The cardboard boxes that are used to recover Cory's shearwaters. This project is co-financed by the Government of the Azores, which is very active in protecting and conserving all marine and terrestrial species. Two years after the 2022 COP in Montreal, the Azores expanded their protected marine area from 4% to 30%, making it the largest in Europe. Corvo Island, 2024

After a night in cardboard boxes, the Cory's Shearwater chicks are released from the cliffs. Now they finally reach their new home: the ocean. They will not return to land for another five or six years, when they come back to breed with the same partner. Corvo Island, 2025

Rui Pimentel is Corvo’s forest ranger. He works on the front line of Cory’s shearwater conservation. Corvo Island, 2025

View of "Caldeirão", the crater of the great and only volcano that shaped the island of Corvo. It is a unique location, entirely free from light pollution, providing an unspoiled view of the cosmos. Corvo Island, 2024