In 1951, a bird that had been believed extinct since 1615 was rediscovered in Bermuda. After almost 330 years, several pairs of cahows were discovered nesting on an offshore islet in Castle Harbor. During the seventeenth-century colonization of Bermuda, the cahow population was decimated by the introduction of new mammal species. Today’s surviving seabirds are under strict protection and are still endangered—their current population is estimated at 250. The cahow, a symbol of hope, is the national bird of Bermuda.