[CINC] VC Star on Bald Eagles

[Clare Fritzsche]

An article from the Ventura County Star....

Bald eagle chicks born on Santa Cruz


Friday, April 4, 2008


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
.


— From staff reports