Rare Find: Golden Eagle Chicks Discovered In Santa Monica Mountains

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA) – For the first time in 30 years, a nest containing pair of golden eagle chicks have been discovered in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The golden eagle chicks were found in May in a remote area of the western Santa Monica Mountains, the National Park Service reported Wednesday.

The last time a golden eagle nest was found in the Santa Monica Mountains was in the late 1980s near Lobo Canyon.

The chicks have been banded by NPS biologists. The bands consist of a tag with an identification number which allows biologists to monitor their status and migration patterns.

Federal biologists say golden eagle populations are being threatened by habitat destruction.

"Humans are the greatest threat to golden eagles," NPS ecologist Katy Delaney said in a statement. "In the past, they were trapped and shot throughout their range and today, they are vulnerable to habitat loss. Like their mammalian carnivore counterparts, they can die from eating poisoned prey as well as from lead poisoning, electrocution on power lines and collisions with wind turbines."

Golden eagles, a cousin of bald eagles, are designated as a protected species in California. They are one of 11 raptors that call the Santa Monica Mountains home, NPS said.

This comes after two bald eaglets were born in a nest in Big Bear Lake in April, an event which thousands of people from across the world were able to watch online thanks to a streaming nest cam. Tragically, however, one of the eaglets died last month.