Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Species Status for Black-Capped Petrel

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), determine endangered species status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended, for the black-capped petrel (Pterodroma hasitata), a pelagic seabird species that nests on the island of Hispaniola and spends the rest of its life at sea. The species forages in high concentration off the coast of North Carolina; however, the marine range extends across much of the western Atlantic (Nova Scotia to Venezuela) and into the Caribbean Sea and northern Gulf of Mexico. This rule extends the protections of the Act to the black-capped petrel.