The number of chicks reared successfully has risen

RSPB Scotland said 26 chicks were reared successfully in the last year - double the previous annual record.

It is expected that the increasing likelihood of spotting the bird will encourage more eco-tourists to come to Scotland.

However, there has also been a rise in the number of poisoning cases.

Two of the birds were killed in 2002, doubling the number of poisoning cases since 1975.

A further incident in the Highlands in February took the number of birds poisoned to five since the species was returned to the wild.

Human persecution

The sea eagle, or white-tailed eagle, is the fourth largest eagle in the world, with a wingspan of nearly two-and-a-half metres.

It became extinct in Britain in 1918 following a prolonged period of human persecution.

A large-scale release programme was launched in 1975 to reintroduce the bird to the Inner Hebrides.

There are now more than 30 territorial pairs in the Scottish population.

The sea eagle was reintroduced in Scotland in 1975

The previous record for the number of young sea eagles to fledge the nest in one year stood at 13.

RSPB Scotland's senior conservation officer Dr Alison MacLennan said: "To double the number of young produced in one year is a huge success and very rewarding."

She said that "unusually settled" weather in the west of Scotland last winter had left adult birds in a particularly good condition for breeding.

"Stronger adults produce more viable young, which have a better chance of surviving the most vulnerable stages during incubation and just after hatching," she said.

"Added to that, a number of young territorial pairs have come of an age to breed for the first time and boosted the productive population.

"One of the spin-offs from this success is that people will have an increased chance of seeing our largest bird of prey in future.