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SAVANNAH, Georgia — Brown pelicans rescued from the oil spill off Louisiana last year are hatching babies in their new home on the Georgia coast — surprising some scientists who feared the oiled shorebirds would stop reproducing.

Tim Keyes of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday he’s spotted chicks in seven nests with one of the parents being a pelican that was relocated to Georgia from the Gulf Coast. He can tell by the colored red band around the birds’ legs. They’re nesting on Little Egg Island Bar, a protected wildlife area at the mouth of the Altamaha River.

Experts had wondered if the pelicans would stop nesting after being traumatized by the BP spill a year ago.

Keyes says so far the newborns appear to be well-fed and healthy.

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