Leaving the Nest

Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) once again soar in the skies above Catalina Island. In 2019, nine chicks hatched and grew to young adulthood on the Island before taking flight. The species wasn’t always thriving. From 1947 to 1970, approximately five million pounds of the pesticide DDT was leaked into the ocean off the Palos Verdes Peninsula. As eagles ate the contaminated fish, the shells of their eggs became porous and unviable.

In 1980, Catalina Island Conservancy partnered with the Institute for Wildlife Studies (IWS) in an effort to reintroduce bald eagles to Catalina Island. This consisted of bringing birds back to the Island, replacing their eggs with false ones to protect the fragile orbs from being crushed and artificially incubating the real eggs off site. After the chicks hatched offsite, they were brought back to the Island and placed in nests to continue to mature. Accessing these remote nests isn’t for the faint of heart, with some only accessible via helicopter. Until as recently as 2007, bald eagle populations were still in trouble on Catalina Island. With human help, their populations have rebounded and, as of 2009, all nests have been left once again to natural hatching and incubation.

Catalina Island Conservancy has worked over the years in partnership with IWS to make this success story possible. IWS continues to band eaglets at approximately two months old with both a federal bird band and the Bald Eagle Restoration Project band. There are now eight pairs of bald eagles that call Catalina Island home, seven of which successfully hatched eaglets in 2019.

Other Channel Islands also saw breeding success:

Santa Rosa Island: 1 Chick

San Clemente Island: 2 Chicks

Anacapa Island: 2 Chicks S

anta Cruz Island: 10 Chicks