Big Bear bald eagles Jackie and Shadow have welcomed their first hatchling.
Thousands of eager viewers who have been watching the eagles’ nest on camera since the first pip showed over the weekend got to watch one of their hatchlings emerge with glimpses of tiny feathers and a beak appearing just before 11:30 p.m. Monday.
The Friends of Big Bear Valley announced the hatchlings may be imminent on Sunday after the first pip appeared. The group operates a 24-hour webcam that monitors the eagles’ nest 145 feet up in a Jeffrey pine overlooking Big Bear Lake.
Pipping is when a baby bird uses its beak to crack open its shell, and a pip watch is the online vigil and hoopla surrounding that activity.
“Tears of joy!!!” responded one person on Facebook after the first crack showed up Sunday.
In 2023, Jackie and Shadow’s eggs were eaten by ravens. And last winter also held heartbreak. The pair added a rare third egg to their clutch in late January, but the cold weather was severe. At one point, a storm kept Jackie on her nest for 62 hours straight, sometimes completely covered in snow.
Low oxygen levels at high altitude are one of the reasons the Friends of Big Bear Valley group suspects Jackie’s three eggs failed to hatch that year. Cold, snowy winters and rainy springs also dim young eaglets’ chances of survival.
Bald eagle eggs typically have a 50-50 chance of hatching, according to Sandy Steers, biologist and executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley. Once hatched, fewer than 50% of eaglets survive their first year, according to the American Eagle Foundation.
