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Jackie and Shadow’s chick triplets are eating well while growing bigger and stronger every day. But they face challenges ahead as they outgrow the protective shielding of their parents. Chick 1 and Chick 2 are about a week old as of Tuesday.
But Chick 3 , who was welcomed into the world Saturday, is holding its own among the older eaglets. This is the first time Big Bear’s famous bald eagle couple have cared for three chicks at once. And Sandy Steers, executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley , the nonprofit that manages the YouTube livestream, told LAist she’s elated.
“It is beyond imagination, and I could never have expected feeling this good about something so beautiful in nature,” she said. “And seeing the impact it's having on people ..
. it makes me really happy, deep in my heart.” How the chicks are holding up The eaglets hatch with poor vision and can barely see shadows at first, but Chick 3 is already getting better at figuring out where the food is coming from and holding its head up for bites of meat from its parents’ beaks.
And the chicks are eating during almost every feeding, Steers said, unless one accidentally sleeps through a session. Sibling rivalry is common for bald eagle chicks, and the older two have been seen “bonking” into each other. That’s when they hit each other with their beaks or push their nestmates around.
“They fight with each other to get the most food, you know, to get the attention, to get everything,” Steers said. “Kind of like humans.” But Chick 1 and Chick 2 have been so busy with each other, they’ve hardly bothered their youngest sibling.
Steers noted that the behavior is harmless at this point, especially since those two are about the same age and strength. “By the time they could be a danger to each other, they usually turn into buddies because they're getting plenty of food and plenty of parental attention,” Steers said. “And that's the only thing they're really fighting for, so they just kind of give up and get along.
” What’s ahead for the nest More rain and snow is headed for the nest overlooking Big Bear Lake this week, but the eaglets will likely be safe from the storms. They’re still small enough to snuggle under their parents’ waterproof feathers for at least another few weeks, like we saw with the last round of wet weather. In the coming months, the chicks will continue to get taller, their own feathers will grow in, and their feet are going to look huge while they learn to flap their wings and prepare to leave the nest.
When the eaglets are almost full size, Jackie and Shadow will stop sleeping on top of them and guard them from the front of the nest instead. They’ll then fledge when they’re about 10 to 14 weeks old, Steers said, before taking off to see the world. “Jackie and Shadow will follow them around the area in any case, making sure they have food and taking care of them, showing them how to hunt, things like that before they leave,” Steers said.
Bald eagles are primarily scavengers for their first year, according to Peter Sharpe, a wildlife biologist with the Institute for Wildlife Studies and Sharpe Wildlife Consulting. That can bring its own risks — about 70% of bald eagles survive that stage, according to the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service . The biggest issues for the young eagles include getting hit by a car while they’re feeding on roadkill, flying into power lines, or lead poisoning from eating something that was shot. “ Lead poisoning is probably the primary cause of mortality these days,” Sharpe said.
Two of the nest's previous chicks, Stormy and Simba, were both found dead in different parts of California about a year after fledging, Friends of Big Bear Valley reported. Stormy had fledged in April 2018 and Simba was last seen at the nest in August 2019. They were identified based on the numbers they were banded with as chicks.
It’s unclear what happened to them. Nest guests Jackie and Shadow may be the most popular, but they aren’t the only stars of the show. San Bernardino flying squirrels have been making guest appearances since the first nest camera was installed about a decade ago.
The squirrels are affectionately known as Fiona and Fast Freddie, although no one knows which one is which. So the first squirrel to show up is always called Fiona, and the second is Fast Freddie. Any more would be known as friends of Fiona and Fast Freddie.
“ We don't know if it's the same ones ...
but they still have the same habits and the same cuteness,” Steers said. The flying squirrels, which are about the size of an eagle egg, work as the nest’s nocturnal cleaning crew — snacking on leftover fish tails, eggshells and insects. They’ve also been known to spook Jackie and Shadow at night, prompting warning “wingslaps” from the feathered couple.
You might see the squirrels launch themselves off the nest to avoid those wingslaps, but Friends of Big Bear Valley said you don’t need to worry, Fiona and Fast Freddie can fly for more than 300 feet..
