of birds that feed or rest, compared to flying in transit, was significantly higher in austral autumn than spring in Spear and Ainley's 2007 study. In 2018, researchers Patrich Cerpa, Fernando Medrano and Ronny Peredo found the ectoparasite stick-tight flea Hectopsylla psittaci on two birds out of ten captured in Pampa de Chaca within the Arica y Parinacota Region. Both specimens were found in the lorum on each bird. The turkey vulture Cathartes aura served as a possible source for the transition between hosts, as Cerpa, Medrano and Peredo observed the two nesting in the same colony. Researchers Rodrigo Barros et al. described the bird as "one of the least known seabirds in the world". Threats and conservation The IUCN estimated the population of Markham's storm petrel in 2019 as between 150,000 and 180,000 individuals, with between 100,000 and 120,000 mature individuals, based on an estimate by researcher Fernando Medrano in 2019. Medrano combined a new colony description with previous findings by Barros in 2019, and estimated the global breeding population at 58,038 pairs. The IUCN estimated the population of Markham's storm petrel was in decline generally based on an estimate by Barros et al., who estimated approximately 21,000 fledglings die each year, though the IUCN noted juvenile seabirds have a higher mortality rate in general based on environmental parameters, age, and sex. The IUCN could not give a specific population trend for mature individuals because tendencies for mature populations were unknown. Prior to 2019, no concrete population estimates for Markham's storm petrel existed, with a 2004 estimate by Brooke placing the population at likely in excess of 30,000 individuals, a 2007 estimate by Spear and Ainley placing the population between 806,500 in austral spring and 1,100,000 in austral autumn, and a 2012 IUCN estimate placing the population at 50,000 overall individuals. Despite its very large population size, in 2019, the IUCN classified the conservation status of Markham's storm petrel as Near Threatened due to habitat loss on its nesting grounds. Since at least 2012, the bird has been classified as endangered in Chile, and, in 2018, the Chilean (MMA) classified the bird as En Peligro de Extinción [in danger of extinction] by its Reglamento de Clasificación de Especies. Conservation efforts have been undertaken in Chile by the (SAG), a department of the Ministry of Agriculture (Minagri). In April 2014, the SAG stated it already rescued a large number of