After a year of efforts to restore the bald eagle population across eight islands off the California coast, biologists observed two bald eagles laying eggs in a nest on Santa Cruz Island.
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Bald eagle (Illustrative Image) |
According to scientists, this marks an important milestone in monitoring the restoration program aimed at protecting this rare bird species in the Channel Islands chain off northern California.
Biologists indicated that if the eggs are viable, they are expected to hatch within the first two weeks of April.
David Garcelon, Director of the Northern California Wildlife Research Institute and program manager, stated: “This is a wonderful exciting event“, “If this pair of eagles incubates the eggs, and if the eggs are viable, I hypothesize that the chances are greater than 50-50“, that the eggs will hatch into a bald eagle chick.
The last recorded nesting of bald eagles in this northern Channel Islands chain was in 1949 on Anacapa Island.
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Bald eagle eggs |
Since then, bald eagles have been unable to reproduce on the islands without human intervention due to their eggs containing high levels of PCB and DDT toxins.
These chemicals were present in a pesticide dumped by Montrose Chemical Company in the Palos Verdes Peninsula area during the 1950s and 1960s.
Montrose Chemical Company, along with other chemical companies and around 100 autonomous municipalities, has invested up to $140 million in the restoration project aimed at the bald eagles.
This is the first pair of bald eagles to lay eggs among the 46 individuals cared for in the restoration program over the past four years.
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