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First Eagle Chicks Hatch on Santa Catalina

Posted on: Tuesday, 3 April 2007, 15:00 CDT

Two bald eagle chicks have hatched on Santa Catalina Island off California, the first two unaided by humans since DDT contamination more than 50 years ago.

Scientists said the chicks hatched Saturday and Sunday and another nest with two eggs 2 miles away is being watched closely, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

The island's eagle population disappeared in the early 1960s because the DDT pesticide had built up in the birds, who produced eggs too thin to be viable, but David Garcelon, founder the Institute of Wildlife Studies, started the eagle restoration effort on the island in 1980.

Since then, eggs were removed and hatched in incubators but it was decided to leave the two nests alone this year, the report said.

I never thought this would be a 27-year effort, Garcelon told the newspaper. More than 100 eagles have been released or fostered into nests on the island since the project began, he said.

Source: United Press International

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