Bald eagle live cam team shares what’s next for the 3 eaglets

“Elated beyond imagination.” That’s how Sandy Steers, executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley, says that she and the team of mostly volunteers are feeling after watching three eaglets hatch last week. These were the first eggs to successfully hatch for internet-famous bald eagles Jackie and Shadow since 2022. 

“I was optimistic, and I was feeling really good, like, ‘this is going to be the time.’ But I kept tempering it because it’s been so hard the last two years that I didn’t allow myself to get too excited,” says Steers. 

Under the watch of a 24/7 livestreamed camera mounted above Jackie and Shadow’s nest in Southern California’s San Bernardino mountains, the first two eggs hatched on March 3 and March 4. The third egg hung in there a little longer, hatching on March 8. 

In the days since, thousands of people around the world have watched as the trio learns to eat, work out their wings, and projectile poop–sometimes on each other. In some ways, the event was a complete reversal for those who watched as three eggs failed to hatch last year. Statistically, only 50 percent of bald eagle eggs successfully hatch and 70 percent survive their first year, according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Now that they are out in the world, they will still face some challenges. According to Steers, weather is their biggest threat. Eaglets are born without their waterproof feathers and all of the down layers that keep warm air in and cold air out. The crucial waterproof feathers usually come in about six weeks after hatching and snowstorms are still forecast for the area.

“I know people are worried about the snow coming this week. It’s actually better that it comes now, while the chicks are small, because they can all fit under Jackie and under Shadow and they can keep them dry,” says Steers. “The challenge comes when they get bigger and they can’t fit under but they don’t have their waterproof feathers completely.”

Winged predators in the area are also a threat. In 2023, Jackie and Shadow’s eggs were eaten by ravens, and the pair has been observed vocalizing and chasing ravens away from their nest and its eaglets. 

According to Steers, one thing that is not an issue is food. Big Bear Lake has rainbow trout, bass, bluegill sunfish, blue catfish, common carp, and more for the birds to eat. However, food in general does cause some sibling rivalry among the eaglets. The dominant chicks tend to eat first, while the smaller chicks wait around and find some creative ways to eat like tandem feeding and waiting for the dominant chicks to be too full to move around much.

“We’ve seen them already bonking each other like that. Although at this age, they’re pretty harmless. That rivalry kind of calms down once it’s been shown that there’s plenty of food and they’re going to get fed,” says Steers.

Jackie and particularly Shadow are also highly skilled in retrieving fish to bring back up to the nest from the lake.

[ Related: Jackie and Shadow’s third eaglet has landed. ]

“Shadow actually has the record for fastest catch on the lake, and the fishermen laugh about it,” says Steers. “He left the nest, flew the quarter mile to the lake, and came back with a fish in one minute and a half.”

In the weeks to come, viewers can expect to see more eating, poop bursting out onto the nest, and wigersizing. The eaglets wingersize by flapping their wings up and down as a way to prepare to take to the sky when they are fully fledged. They should be ready to leave the nest in around 10 to 12 weeks. In that time, they will grow rapidly from about three inches up to three feet tall.

As they grow, the eaglets will also become more curious about the nest and world around them. Those of us watching will also have the opportunity to suggest names for the eagles. Viewers will be able to submit names through an online portal and then a local third grade class gets the honor of voting for the official names for the eaglets.

“I love that people are learning about nature that they’re willing to just open up. We get to watch and see all the possibilities that are out there and be amazed, entertained, and curious,” says Steers. “Whatever happens, we get to observe it. And sometimes we have feelings, sometimes they’re sad. But all of it is nature, and we learn to connect.”

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