Historically, most of the eggs removed from bald eagle nests on Catalina Island have been transported to the San Francisco Zoo for artificial incubation. Largely because of DDT contamination in the eggs, only about 18% of the eggs have hatched over the past 15 years. In 2005, IWS established an incubation facility on Catalina Island so that we could minimize the travel time and reduce potential damage to the developing embryos. Hopefully, reducing the wear and tear on the eggs during travel will increase hatching success. Funding for this facility was provided by the Montrose Settlements Restoration Program and donations from the 1st Annual Island-to-Island Paddleboard Race and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. You can click on any of the images below to view a larger photo.
Incubation Room
Our Incubation Facility on Catalina Island is equipped with a Brinsea Contaq X8 incubator (left), a Grumbach incubator (right), and a Brinsea Ratite Hatcher (center).
Eggs in Brinsea
Excessive water loss is the primary concern with these fragile eagle eggs. Portions of the shell are covered with Tegaderm to reduce water loss and then they are placed in high humidity incubators. This image shows the eggs in the Brinsea Contaq X8 incubator
Opening egg
We often have to help the eagles during hatching. Here we have peeled away some of the shell around the pip site to make it easier for the chick to break open the egg. Note the beak showing through the opening.
Newly hatched
The chicks emerge from the shell wet. They are examined and then put back in the hatcher to dry.
Newborn
After hatching, the chicks will rest for up to 12 hours before they are interested in eating.
Chick at 6 hours
This is the same chick about 6 hours after hatching.
All three chicks
In 2005, we were successful in hatching 3 of 9 fertile eggs (33%), the highest percentage since egg removal began in 1989. We increased our hatching success to 5 of 8 in 2006, and 7 of 9 in 2007.