Museum of Ventura County Hosts Event to Celebrate Bald Eagle Recovery on the Channel Islands

Date: April 22, 2016
Contact: Yvonne Menard, 805-658-5725

Channel Islands National Park invites the public to "Find Your Park's Story" at an upcoming event at the Museum of Ventura County that celebrates the National Park Service Centennial, on May 1, from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

The "Soaring to Success" event celebrates the recovery of the bald eagles on the Channel Islands after their disappearance by the 1960s, due to impacts from the chemical DDT. Today, there are 19 breeding pairs and over 60 resident bald eagles on the Channel Islands. Since 2006, 129 bald eagle chicks have naturally hatched on five of the islands.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wildlife biologist Annie Little will discuss this landmark recovery in two lectures, at 1:00 and 3:00 pm at the museum pavilion. There will also be regular showings of, "Return Flight: Restoring the Bald Eagle to the Channel Islands," a film which chronicles the bald eagle success story.

Children's activities will be available throughout the day, including eagle-themed crafts, fish prints, and a button-maker station. Rangers will deliver educational programs, at 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm, on bird beak adaptations. A Junior Ranger station will allow children to complete activity booklets and earn their Junior Ranger badge.

The event will also feature live raptors for visitors to interact with, courtesy of The Nature of Wildworks, a wildlife care and education center. "Soaring to Success" will be free for all, as part of the Free First Sunday series at the Museum of Ventura County.

To watch bald eagle chicks develop this breeding season, visit the live bald eagle webcam or iws.org.org. Biologists and the public can also track and learn about the chicks' behavior on a bald eagle discussion forum.

To learn more about these and other centennial events from Channel Islands National Park, visit www.nps.gov/chis. The National Park Service Centennial honors 100 years of national parks, and sets the stage for another 100 years of helping Americans make meaningful connections to nature, history, and culture.