Bald eagles have been seen nesting on San Clemente Island for the first time in 50 years. The birds disappeared from the area in the early 1960's, due to use of the insecticide DDT.
The island is one of eight in a chain, and the majestic birds have now returned to five of them.
"This news is very gratifying. I expect to see bald eagles return to all eight of the Channel Islands within a few years which will mark yet another milestone in their successful recovery," Peter Sharpe from the Institute for Wildlife Studies said.
The newly-discovered mating pair on San Clemente Island is a 10-year-old female designated A-32, she hatched in Juneau Alaska and released as a young bird, on Santa Catalina Island in 2004; And K-76, a seven-year-old male. He was conceived in an artificial incubation facility and placed into a nest at Twin Rocks.
Bald eagles were once listed as an endangered species, with populations reduced to only 417 mating pairs in 1963. No chicks have been spotted in the San Clemente nest, but biologists are still heartened by the return of the birds to a majority of islands in the chain. Wildlife officials report at least 16 breeding pairs are nesting in the Channel Islands, with 14 chicks born. On Santa Catalina Island alone, seven active nests are known, featuring four young eagles.
A total of 61 bald eagle chicks were placed into the wild in northern regions of the Channel Islands between 2002 and 2006, in an effort to re-build populations. The first chick born in the chain in five decades hatched on Santa Cruz Island in 2006.
Bald eagles build the largest nests in North America, which measure up to eight feet wide and 13 feet deep. These treetop homes can weigh over a ton. The bird of prey is normally found near open water, where food is plentiful and old-growth trees, suitable for nesting, are available. The animals feast on fish by grabbing the prey with their talons. Their name derives from an archaic meaning of the word bald - white headed.
After populations of the national bird of America declined to near-extinction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added bald eagles to the endangered species list. By 2007, populations had recovered to 9,789 mating pairs, and their classification was changed to 'threatened.' At that time, Minnesota was the most popular home, with 1,312 mating pairs. This was followed by Florida, home to 1,133 pairs. On pair of the birds also created a home in Vermont, which was the one state bald eagles were never before seen nesting.
