Golden eagles found dead at wind farm

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it is investigating the deaths of two federally protected golden eagles at a California wind farm.

The two eagles were discovered Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A total of eight eagles have been found dead at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's Pine Tree wind farm, located 100 miles north of Los Angeles in the Tehachapi Mountains, the newspaper said.

Federal wildlife officials said the first six eagles were struck by blades from the turbines at the wind farm, which features 90 turbines spread across 8,000 acres.

The utility says it is trying to mitigate risks to golden eagles that have a difficult time maneuvering through fields of wind turbine blades spinning as fast as 200 mph.

Critics are calling for a redesign of the turbine network and calling for a moratorium on construction of nearby wind farms, the newspaper said.