The State - News from May 1, 1989

A baby eagle named Suzanne was fed a trout over the weekend by an adult bald eagle, that wildlife biologists hope will adopt the fledgling and help reestablish a colony in Southern California. The 3-week-old chick, taken from a nest in Northern California Thursday, was placed in the nest of a pair of eagles on Santa Catalina Island Friday morning. After several hours the female adult landed and began feeding the fledgling, said biologist David Garcelon. The young bird won’t be able to fly for about 10 weeks. Previous eggs laid by the female eagle, introduced to the island habitat in 1980, had failed to hatch because pesticide contamination weakened their shells. Bald eagles disappeared from the island in the 1950s, victims of pollution and egg poachers.