[CINC] Two bald eagle chicks hatch on Santa Cruz Island

[Clare Fritzsche]

PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT: Yvonne Menard, National Park Service, 805-658-5725
Annie Little, MSRP, 760-431-9440, #219
April 3, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

*Spring Success for Bald Eagles on the Channel Islands*
This week biologists and dedicated eagle enthusiasts watched via the 
Channel Islands
Live EagleCAM as two chicks hatched at the Pelican Harbor nest on Santa Cruz
Island, off the coast of southern California.

This is the third year of successful nesting attempts by the Pelican 
Harbor pair and the
third and fourth eagle chicks they have hatched unaided in the wild. 
Their parenting
skills may be challenged as this is the first time they have had two 
chicks to feed.
However, bald eagles commonly raise between one and three young.

Just prior to the first chick hatching on Tuesday morning, April 1, 
2008, the six-yearold
female adult eagle was seen fidgeting between the sitting and standing 
position as
she monitored the egg intently. By midday, hours after the first egg 
hatched, the
seven-year-old male parent eagle had fed the new chick its first meal of 
fish.

Today, in the early morning hours, the second chick arrived and was 
welcomed by
over 700 avid eagle enthusiasts who watched the drama live via the 
Internet. Over the
next three months the public can observe the behaviors and growth of the 
new eagle
chicks prior to their fledging expected sometime in mid-June.

"It is thrilling to see the recovery of bald eagles following their 
extirpation from the
Channel Islands," said Russell Galipeau, Superintendent of Channel 
Islands National
Park. "In just six years we have progressed from releasing birds to the 
wild to birds
being born in the wild."

Biologists are cautiously optimistic about this trend of recovery as the 
chemicals that
contributed to bald eagle decline persist in the southern California 
marine ecosystem.
They hope for up to two dozen nests within the next five years--- a 
return to historic
levels of bald eagle nests on the northern Channel Islands.

An intensive eagle watch will continue in the coming weeks with hopes 
for discovery
of additional nests and successful hatchings at currently active nests 
on Santa Cruz
and Santa Rosa Islands. Five nests are expected to produce up to seven 
young eaglets
this spring on Catalina Island. Thus far, two have been born in the wild 
and one in an
incubation facility on Catalina Island.

Nearly 40 bald eagles are currently residing in Channel Islands National 
Park as a
result of a restoration program that released 61 eagles between 2002 and 
2006.
*
History of Recovery*
In 2006, the same bald eagle pair made headlines when their chick (A-49) 
hatched on
Santa Cruz Island. It was the first bald eagle chick to hatch on the 
Channel Islands
unaided by humans in over 50 years. A-49, now a two-year-old, has been 
tracked
flying between central California and the Channel Islands.

Prior to 2006, the last known successful nesting of a bald eagle on the 
northern
Channel Islands was in 1950 on Santa Rosa Island. Bald eagles 
disappeared from the
Channel Islands by the early 1960s, due to human impacts, primarily 
pollution.
Millions of pounds of DDTs and PCBs released into the ocean off the 
Palos Verdes
Peninsula between the 1940s and the 1970s continue to contaminate the 
regional food
web. The effects of these chemicals are magnified in the food chain, 
causing bald
eagles to lay thin-shelled eggs that either dehydrate or break in the nest.
*
A Partnership for Bald Eagle Recovery*
The bald eagle restoration efforts on the Channel Islands are funded by 
the Montrose
Settlements Restoration Program (MSRP), a multi-agency program dedicated to
restoring natural resources harmed by DDTs and PCBs released into the 
environment
by Montrose Chemical Corporation and other industrial sources in southern
California in the mid 20th century. MSRP includes representatives from 
the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
National
Park Service, California Department of Fish and Game, California State Lands
Commission, and California Department of Parks and Recreation. Further
information on MSRP can be found at: www.montroserestoration.gov.

The National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy, co-owners of Santa 
Cruz
Island, remind visitors that bald eagles are a federally protected 
species and that it is
illegal to disturb nesting birds. Disturbances can cause eagles to 
accidentally break
the eggs or fly away from the nest, leaving the eggs vulnerable to 
predators.

The Institute for Wildlife Studies, a non-profit organization dedicated 
to the
conservation of wildlife species, is involved in conservation projects 
around the
world. IWS has conducted bald eagle restoration on Catalina Island for 
over 25 years,
as well as efforts on the northern islands within Channel Islands 
National Park. For
links to webcams on Catalina and Santa Cruz Islands go to: www.iws.org
*
Using Technology to Share Success*
The EagleCAM is one of a number of educational opportunities offered as 
part of
Channel Islands Live (CHIL), a cooperative partnership between Channel 
Islands
National Park and the Ventura County Office of Education. Through CHIL, 
students
have been able to watch the eagles in real time over the Internet. 
Teachers can then
guide student learning according to state-adopted science standards. The 
EagleCAM
and associated discussion board can be found at: 
http://chil.vcoe.org/eagle_cam.htm

This publication is available online at: 
www.nps.gov/chis/parknews/newsreleases.htm
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