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Bald Eagle Chicks Born on Santa Cruz

Posted on: Friday, 4 April 2008, 12:00 CDT

A pair of bald eagles on Santa Cruz Island became the parents of two chicks this week, furthering scientists' hopes that the birds will successfully repopulate the Channel Islands.

On Tuesday morning, as viewers from around the world watched an online video stream, the female eagle started fidgeting and looking down at the egg that had hatched, said Yvonne Menard, spokeswoman for the Channel Islands National Park. A few hours later the male was seen feeding his young offspring a fish.

A second egg hatched Thursday morning as 700 people watched online.

Russell Galipeau, superintendent of the park, said it was thrilling to see the birds' recovery on the island.

"In just six years we have progressed from releasing birds to the wild to birds being born in the wild," he said.

The pair, which have made their nest high in a pine tree overlooking Pelican Harbor, are part of an ongoing recovery effort to restore bald eagles to the island after no chicks had hatched there in more than 50 years.

DDT poisoning had made their shells so thin the eggs were crushed during incubation and the eagles' population shrank.

From 2002 to 2006, the park released 61 bald eagles on the islands, about 40 of which still live there.

This is the third and fourth offspring for this pair of eagles. Their first, born in 2006, has been tracked flying between the mainland and the islands. A second born last year died a few weeks after fledging.

The nest can been viewed in real time at http://chil.vcoe.org/eagle_cam.htm

Source: Ventura County Star

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