This year's Pelican Harbor nest on Santa Cruz Island is teeming with life! Two eaglets hatched in early April this year while EagleCAM viewers watched closely. This is the fifth year that chicks have hatched in the Pelican Harbor nest since this pair had their first successful hatching in 2006.
The 9-year old male from this nesting pair, K-10, was fostered into a nest on Catalina Island in 2001. K-10 spent several years on the mainland before returning to Santa Cruz Island in 2005. The 8-year old female, K-26, was fostered into another nest on Catalina Island in 2002. She spent some time on the mainland as well and made her way over to Santa Cruz Island in 2005, the same year as K-10. Shortly after returning to Santa Cruz Island these two eagles formed a pair and established a nest near Pelican Harbor. They successfully hatched their first egg in 2006 on the Northern Channel Islands in over 50 years! This first chick that hatched, A-49, successfully fledged and is now establishing her own nesting territory on Santa Cruz Island. In 2007, another chick successfully fledged.
The following years were not so lucky. In 2008, two chicks were knocked out of the nest by another bald eagle. Fortunately, thanks to quick notification from EagleCAM viewers, the Institute for Wildlife Studies (IWS) biologists quickly recovered the injured birds. The young birds were rehabilitated on the mainland and later released on Santa Cruz Island. In 2009, two chicks successfully hatched, but unfortunately died several days later due to unknown causes.
In 2010, with 7 bald eagle pairs on Catalina Island and potentially up to 10 pairs on the Northern Channel Islands, IWS biologists are kept very busy finding and monitoring the nests. To observe the action at the Pelican Harbor nest, read the FAQs, and get regular updates from the field, visit the
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discussion forum.