It appears Big Bear’s famed eagles have welcomed an eaglet into the world after one of their eggs hatched. This video was broadcast on the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on Monday, March 3, 2025.
Last year, fans from across the globe watched via webcam as a bald eagle fondly named Jackie laid her first egg of the season. Then another. And another. The world looked on as she and her partner Shadow took turns keeping their offspring warm through a wet El Nino winter in Southern California's Big Bear Valley. Viewers tuned into daily updates from the Friends of Big Bear Valley Facebook group. Loyal viewers eagerly awaited the "pips" that foreshadow the eaglets' arrival.
But the pips never came. The chicks never emerged.
There's reason to celebrate this year. On Tuesday, two fluffy eaglets broke through their shells to be the first eaglets born to the eaglet pair since 2022, according to the environmental nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley (FBBV).
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The first emerged just before midnight Tuesday and the second around 4:30 a.m. A third egg could also still hatch. The FBBV group said that egg was laid 35 days ago, putting it at the beginning of its "pip watch" when viewers closely monitor the egg for tiny cracks that indicate a hatching is occurring.
Jackie and Shadow have had a turbulent birthing journey since their first egg hatched in 2019. Up until Tuesday, the pair had only two sets of chicks together. Several seasons went by with no viable eggs and on several occasions, ravens attacked unprotected eggs, according to the Friends of Big Bear Valley.
The eagles this year have been working diligently to keep their three eggs warm amid frigid conditions in their sky-high nest, weathering storms and taking turns sitting on their precious brood 24 hours a day.
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Each bird is protected by 7,000 or so feathers "knitted" together that keep them and their eggs warm, even when temperatures dip below freezing and the wind is blowing.
Fans have been able to keep a close watch on the eagles' ups-and-downs thanks to a live camera installed outside their 6-foot wide nest in 2015 by biologist Sandy Steers, executive director of FBBV.
