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Santa Cruz Island Eaglet Killed
August 24, 2007 — A bald eagle that hatched on California’s Santa Cruz Island was recently found dead in northern Nevada. Eaglet "A-63" was the third bald eagle to be born in the wild on Santa Cruz Island since DDT pollution wiped out the population in the mid-twentieth century. While an estimated 50 percent of eagles don’t survive their first year, the death of A-63 is particularly sad for the many fans who watched his birth and growth via live web cam over the past five months.
Learn more in our Q&A with biologist Peter Sharpe of the Institute for Wildlife Studies.
Learning to Fly
June 28, 2007 — In a momentous turn of events, the Santa Cruz Island bald eagle chick “A-63” took his first flight on the same day the federal government removed bald eagles from the endangered species list! At 10:09 a.m. the young eagle spread his wings, flapped them vigorously and took off from his perch. Watch video of the eaglet’s first flight.
After fledging, bald eagles typically stay close to the nest for a few weeks, learning to hunt and practicing their flying skills. Eventually they will venture off on their own. Until then, you can check back in with the live nest cam to see A-63 on his return visits to the nest.
The Bald Eagle Chick Has Been Banded!
June 8, 2007 — Watch video of eagle experts from the Institute for Wildlife Studies as they capture, band and measure the chick. Then be sure to check in with the live nest cam to catch up with the eaglet's growth. But hurry — eagle "A-63" is expected to leave the nest for good sometime in early July!
Learn more about the parents of the chick and the banding process.
For the second year in a row, bald eagles have produced a wild-born chick on Santa Cruz Island. With spiky hair and bleary eyes, the newest star in the family emerged from its shell early on April 13. Like last year’s chicks, this newborn eaglet represents a turning point in the ecological health of Santa Cruz Island, which is owned by The Nature Conservancy and the National Park Service.
The chick’s parents are one of two celebrated pairs who made history last year by producing the first bald-eagle chicks to hatch naturally on the island in more than 50 years. After successfully nesting on Santa Cruz Island in 2006, the two pairs returned to the same nests in early 2007. Two eggs were laid, but only one survived to hatch.
"We were hoping for an encore performance like this," says Rachel Wolstenholme, restoration manager for The Nature Conservancy's Santa Cruz Island Preserve. "Bald eagles play a vital role in the island's ecosystem, and they were missing for a long time. We’re ecstatic about the latest eagle birth."
A Great Comeback
Bald eagles disappeared from the Channel Islands in the mid 1900s, poisoned by DDT. Chemical companies flushed the pesticide into the ocean via the Los Angeles sewer system until it was banned in the early 1970s.
For more than 20 years scientists tried to reestablish the birds on Santa Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles. But the lingering effects of DDT made the birds’ eggshells too thin to hatch without human intervention. (That changed this spring, however, when four chicks hatched on Catalina Island, the first known chicks to hatch on Catalina without human assistance in more than 50 years.)
In 2002, the National Park Service began introducing bald eagles to Santa Cruz Island, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles. Sixty-one chicks — around 12 per year — were reintroduced during the five-year program. The first group of eagles is just now reaching breeding age.
The two chicks born on Santa Cruz Island in 2006 were the first chicks to hatch unaided anywhere on the Channel Islands since bald eagle restoration efforts began. With the 2007 births on Catalina and Santa Cruz Islands, biologists are hopeful that DDT levels in eggs have sufficiently declined. One thing is certain: these historic births, which have captivated eagles’ fans around the world, represent a turning point for the future of the majestic bald eagle in the Channel Islands.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Gary N. Crabbe (Santa Cruz Island); Photo © National Park Service (Eagle webcam); Photo © National Park Service (Eagle video); Photo © James Glover II/Ventura County Star (Eagle banding).
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