THOUSAND OAKS — Biologists at a national park in Southern California have found a pair of golden eagle chicks — the first seen there in decades.

The National Park Service announced Wednesday that a nest containing the pair of 12-week-old chicks was found in March in a cave in the Santa Monica Mountains.
It’s the first golden eagle nest confirmed in the mountains since the late 1980s. Sightings of adult birds also have been vanishingly rare.
The chicks, a male and a female, were given ankle bands to help scientists monitor them.
Although the golden eagle is protected under the law, experts believe the population may be declining in the United States, especially in California. Researchers say the loss of habitat is a major threat.