Wooden candleholders Pardela cenicienta
At the end of October, the Canary Islands announce so-called “dark nights”: hotels, public buildings and even residents of the islands try to switch off whatever outside lights they can. These nights the chicks of the Scopoli's shearwater or pardela cenicienta - as these seabirds are called in the Canary Islands - realize their first flights.
Scopoli's shearwater come to the islands in February to build their nests and raise chicks. The chicks spend all summer under the supervision of their parents and when autumn begins strong chicks spread their wings to make their first night flight and find a way to the ocean. These birds use stars and moonlight to orient their journey, but recently, due to the increased light pollution in the cities, these small birds, dazzled by artificial light, go astray and fall to the ground. It’s hard for them to fly up again and they remain helpless on the ground, where they are in big danger.
Only in Tenerife, the residents find more than 2,000 fallen chicks (emergency services phone number 112) every autumn. Rescued birds are taken to special centers where they receive all necessary assistance and later, under the supervision of ornithologists, they are released on the coastline in order to avoid any risk and let them continue their winter’s journey.
A few years later, they will find their only couple for the rest of their life and return to the Canary Islands again to build their own nests and lay eggs.
So maybe sometimes we just need to switch off the artificial light and spend a lovely evening by the ocean in the warm and magical candlelight?
A jute brand bag, a keychain, a sticker, a wooden postcard with a map of the islands and a story about the Scopoli's shearwater are included.