Golden eagles hatch in a California park for the first time in decades

[Bayard]

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Here's a spot of good news to celebrate the holiday: A close cousin of the nation's iconic symbol, the golden eagle, is coming back to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in California. For the first time since the 1980s, a pair of chicks were spotted in a remote part of the park.

Katy Delaney, an ecologist with Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service, told the National Parks Traveler website that loss of habitat has reduced the range of the eagles throughout the state, enough to be worrisome for their future. "Humans are the greatest threat to golden eagles," Delaney said. "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."

It's possible, she said, that they've been around and just haven't been seen, but the appearance of these two chicks, which have been banded for tracking, "is a good thing for our mountains. We not only have mountain lions here, but we have golden eagles, too." Here's an encouraging tidbit for the future: "golden eagles are thought to form strong pair bonds and exhibit high mate and territory fidelity, meaning they will likely stay with the same partner and return to the same nest each breeding season. […] Historically, golden eagles nested throughout the Santa Monica Mountains—from the Gorge in Malibu Creek State Park to Boney Mountain in Point Mugu State Park. According to local Chumash Indians, golden eagles had a deep historical connection to Boney Mountain but the last known confirmed nesting there occurred in the early 1980s."

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/7/4/1868103/-Golden-eagles-hatch-in-a-California-park-for-the-first-time-in-decades?detail=emaildkre
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[Duppers]

1. Wonderful news! Not just for...

These mighty raptors but for the environment.

K & R

[flamingdem]

2. How wonderful!

This year there are so many birds in the LA area, probably due to our extra rainfall.