A pair of nesting bald eagles were found on San Clemente Island off the coast of Southern California for the first time in more than 50 years, according to the National Park Service.

The news marks the latest step in their comeback from near extinction, and means the species has now returned to five of the eight Channel Islands.

Bald eagles vanished from the Channel Islands in the early 1960s due to DDT poisoning, and were once listed as endangered species.

"This news is very gratifying," Peter Sharpe of the nonprofit Institute for Wildlife Studies said in a statement released by the park service. "I expect to see bald eagles return to all eight of the Channel Islands within a few years, which will mark yet another milestone in their successful recovery."

No chicks have been spotted in the San Clemente Island nest, which was made by two birds that came from two other islands sin the chain, according to Reuters.

The female eagle was hatched near Juneau, Alaska, back in 2014, and released to Santa Cruz Island later on that year.

The male meanwhile hatched on Santa Cruz Island in 2004, according to Reuters.

There are 60 resident bald eagles in the Channel Islands National Park, with 16 breeding pairs, according to the park service.

After breading the eagles in captivity the last four years, the first chick hatched naturally on Santa Cruz Island for the first time in more than 50 years, according to the park service.

They will no longer breed the eagles in captivity now that they have had successful natural hatchings, according to Jane Hendron, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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