BALD EAGLES: SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND

This undated image provided by the National Park Service shows an eagle feeds a chick in a nest on the Channel Islands. Officials say bald eagles continue to expand their range in Southern California's Channel Islands, where a nesting pair has been found on San Clemente Island for the first time [2014] in more than 50 years.

C.F. Holder (l), Gifford Pinchot (holding eagle),
George Pardee (r),San Clemente Island, 1909

Bald eagles: San Clemente Island — Collectors of bald eagle egg sets include:

• 1907: LINTON, Clarence Brockman (eggs and dead eagle);
• 1915: DICKEY, Donald Ryder “Dick”

Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. WFVZ Bird Collections

• 1915: NOKES, Irwin Dana

Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. WFVZ Bird Collections.

San Clemente Island

1897 San Clemente Island: “Haliaetus leucocephalus—Bald Eagle. The Bald Eagle was seen rather commonly along the shores of the island, but as usual, quite shy. When an eagle appeared, the Ospreys were generally the first to see it and give the alarm with their mournful whistling cries. However, according to my observations, the Ospreys are not robbed of their fish so persistently as generally believed, the food of the eagle being mainly the dead fish thrown upon the beach. I found a nest of the Bald Eagle on April 1. It was situated on a shelf of the rock which projected from the top of one of the huge caverns on the steep hillside west of Smugglers Cove. The nest proper was a saucer-shaped depression in the sand on top of the ledge. But it was lined with downy feathers, and encircled by a considerable mass of large sticks and fagots. The nest contained a single egg, nearly hatched, which is soiled chalky white, and measures 2.7 x 2.23. On our second visit several immature or juvenile eagles were noted, that is, birds in the dark plumage...The party consisted of Joseph Grinnell, who had immediate charge of the expedition, and gave special attention to the ornithology and entomology of the islands; Horace Gaylord, who collected mammals; and Harry Gaylord and James Brittan [Britton] who devoted their time to archaeology. The party left San Pedro harbor May 11 in a large fishing schooner... [returning June 9, 1897]”
Grinnell, Joseph Report on the Birds recorded during a visit to the Islands of Santa Barbara, San Nicolas and San Clemente, in the Spring of 1897 Pasadena Academy of Sciences Publication No. 1, August, 1897 (26 pages).

1907 San Clemente Island: “Haliaeetus leucocephalus. Bald Eagle. Found nesting in the larger canyons, one-fourth to one mile from the coast, during February, March and April. Several nests were visited and two fresh sets of two eggs each taken, February 15, and March 15. Scattered about the base of the cliffs in which the nests were situated, were numerous skeletons of sheep and young lambs. ” [“Visits were made to Clemente in January, February, March, April and October, 1907.”]
Linton, C. B. Notes from San Clemente Island The Condor 10:82-86, March 1908

1922 San Clemente Island: “One of the surprises of San Clemente is the wealth and variety of bird life. Great Bald Eagles were seen every day soaring over the sea and shore, or perched upon some rocky crag devouring their prey. The king of birds is by no means free from worry. Watching him through the galss revealed the fact that flocks of ravens were constantly attacking him, flying at his head, trying to steal his food and apparently causing him great irritation and annoyance.”
Beek, Joseph Allen San Clemente Island from a Yacht California Southland 31:14-15, July 1922

1984 San Clemente Island: “Once a fairly common resident but now extirpated (Grinnell 1897, Linton 1908, Howell 1917). The last record was for 26 Mar 1927 when three or more pairs were reported to be on the Island (Kiff 1980). The species certainly did not survive through the 1950s on the Channel Islands, but the date of its demise on SCI is not documented. Between 1 Nov 1976 and 24 Aug 1978 one adult male, two adult females and one immature were released on the Island by Dave Garcelon in an attempt to reestablish them on SCI. The adult male and one of the adult females were recaptured and removed because they did not forage on their own. The other two birds left the Island soon after release and were not seen again.” Recovery Plan for the endangered and threatened species of the California Channel Islands published by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon 1984.

Island Collections~

ISLAND	COLLECTOR	INSTITUTION	DATE	NUMBER	SPECIMEN
San Clemente Island	Joseph Grinnell	MVZ	April 1, 1897	MVZ-188	Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente	G. F. Breninger	FMNH	February 16, 1903	FMNH-14208	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Birds
San Clemente	G. F. Breninger	FMNH	February 16, 1903	FMNH-14209	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Birds
San Clemente	G. F. Breninger	FMNH	February 16, 1903	FMNH-15785	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente	G. F. Breninger	FMNH	February 18, 1903	FMNH-481	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente Island	O. W. Howard	WFVZ	March 3, 1905	WFVZ-23180	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente Island	Irwin D. Nokes	WFVZ	March 13, 1915	WFVZ-81994	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente Island	E. G. Blair	CAS	August 1, 1918	CAS-922	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente Island	Nelson K. Carpenter	WFVZ	March 6, 1922	WFVZ-56626	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente Island	Nelson K. Carpenter	WFVZ	March 8, 1922	WFVZ-83453	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente Island	Griffing Bancroft Jr.	WFVZ	March 9, 1922	WFVZ-52453	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente Island	Griffing Bancroft	WFVZ	February 23, 1923	WFVZ-8160	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente Island	Griffing Bancroft	WFVZ	February 23, 1923	WFVZ-52452	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente Island	Griffing Bancroft	WFVZ	February 23, 1923	WFVZ-52454	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente Island	Griffing Bancroft	WFVZ	February 24, 1923	WFVZ-10084	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs
San Clemente Island	Griffing Bancroft & Gordon Burnham	WFVZ	February 26, 1923	WFVZ-9883	Haliaeetus leucocephalus	Eggs

In the News~

May 1, 1909 [LAT]: “Complaints come from San Clemente [Island] to the deputy game warden here that a party of curiosity seekers from the mainland are making nocturnal trips to the island in search of eagles, and their eggs. Several birds are said to have been shot by these marauders. One of the enthusiasts was captured Wednesday by men employed by Charles T. Howland. He had fifty-four eggs and ten claws.”

July 17, 2014 [The San Diego Union-Tribune]: “OS ANGELES (AP) — Bald eagles have expanded their range in the Channel Islands off the coast of California, where a nesting pair has been found on San Clemente Island for the first time in more than 50 years, an official said Thursday. The discovery means bald eagles have re-established territories on five of the eight islands in the chain and experts expect their return to all eight islands within a few years. Bald eagles disappeared from the islands in the 1960s primarily due to the use of the insecticide DDT, which caused thinning of eggshells that easily broke. Sixteen breeding pairs were added to the population of the more than 60 birds living on the islands. There didn't appear to be chicks in the San Clemente nest, but it's encouraging to know that eagles now occupy most of the islands, said Jane Hendron, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Officials said they have released 61 chicks onto the northern Channel Islands as part of a bald eagle reestablishment effort that began in 2002. After four years of breading the eagles in captivity, the first chick hatched naturally on Santa Cruz Island for the first time in more than 50 years. Hendron said they are no longer breeding the eagles in captivity now that they have had successful natural hatchings. "We're just going to let nature take its course," she said.”