It’s unlikely that beloved Big Bear eagles Jackie and Shadow will see any of the eggs in their first three-egg clutch hatch this year, according to a nonprofit that monitors the pair’s nest.
Friends of Big Bear Valley shared with its hundreds of thousands of social media followers Monday, March 11, there have been no confirmed signs of a “pip,” or first crack in an eggshell created by the chick inside.
“Pip watch” began Feb. 29, 35 days after Jackie delivered the first of her three eggs.
“This is later than Jackie’s eggs have hatched in the past, so it is probably unlikely for them to hatch at this point,” FOBBV posted Monday on its Facebook page, sharing a clip of a video from one of its two web cams that broadcast the goings-on in the nest.
“It is not a matter of ‘giving up,’ it is simply a matter of taking what is in front of us and moving forward,” FOBBV wrote, “just the way Jackie and Shadow do.”
Unless a “miracle” happens, the nonprofit said, it will be second year in a row that none of Jackie’s eggs have hatched. Jackie’s most recent offspring, Spirit, hatched in March 2022.
FOBBV has previously said hatching can be impacted by solar flares, earthquakes, confused hormones, intruder eagles and weather conditions.
“As to why the eggs have not hatched, we have no way of knowing,” the nonprofit wrote Monday. “It could be environmental, such as temperatures, humidity percentages, oxygen levels at high altitude, etc. It could be biological with something just being off at the time the eggs were created. It is very unlikely that either Jackie or Shadow are infertile since they have already had two sets of chicks together — in 2019 and 2022.”
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Devoted followers of Jackie and her partner, Shadow, expressed sadness over the likely loss of the three eggs but also hope for the future.
“I love watching these birds,” one commenter wrote. “All of this is a reminder of how fickle nature is. Protecting these birds is so important … . Fingers crossed that next year brings us a new eaglet. They deserve it! Such good parents.”
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