Big Bear Eagle Cam

After several disappointing years, the eagles Jackie and Shadow have hatched three chicks. We can all watch their antics, thanks to the eagle cam installed by the Friends of Big Bear Valley.

Many know I am “into” birds, but birdwatching is not always easy. I sometimes go on nature walks guided by the local Audubon society, and those are great, but they're so popular it's hard to get a spot. I have several sets of binoculars and bird books. But the birds don’t always cooperate, and I am frustrated by incomplete sightings and an inability to identify them.

Watching using a cam is so much more convenient! And watching an eagle cam – our national bird, officially at last – feels truly special.

The nest is located way up in a very tall tree in California. The eagles feel secure and don’t realize we’re snooping. And, at least during nesting season, some volunteer is always watching and can control the camera to zoom in on the eggs/chicks when they are hatching/being fed.

Of course, not all moments are exciting, but there’s a page you can go to that notes exactly when fish were delivered or when feedings took place (link below). You can go back during the last 12 hours of viewing to see the exciting moments. Also, others post clips in YouTube capturing important times. Search for “Jackie and Shadow” or “Big Bear Eagle Cam” and you will find plenty.

Eagles can be hard to tell apart, although Jackie is a little larger than Shadow, and Shadow has sleeker head feathers. But this season viewers have been lucky and somehow a smudge got stuck over Jackie’s right eye. It could be sap, it could be dirt, but the spot probably won’t come off until those feathers molt.

Jackie is more in charge than Shadow. She takes all the night shifts. When the weather is bad, such as rain, snow or sleet, she barely moves as she protects those in the nest. Shadow has to fight for chick and egg time. Sometimes he does this by bringing a large stick and putting it on top of her.

Jackie is also much noisier. As I don’t speak eagle, I don’t what she’s saying, but she seems to call out to Shadow when there’s danger. Or maybe when she wants a shift change. Or maybe she’s praising him when he shows up with a fish (and he does that a lot, he is a good provider; although Jackie fishes well herself).

The nest is full of dead fish scraps and coot feathers. Apparently eagles don’t have a good sense of smell, which is convenient. Instead of cleaning things out – although sometimes Jackie moves carcasses out of the nest bowl – eagles tend to just add more on top of what is already there. Jackie and Shadow are always bringing more sticks and fluff to the platform.

As mentioned above, after two disappointing seasons, this year, all three eggs hatched: the first two within a day of each other, the third about three days later. Chick 3 is still visibly smaller than its siblings but it is managing to get fed and to move about.

Let me describe the funniest incident I have seen so far. The food they eat is raw meat, fish or fowl, so there’s blood and sometimes it gets on the chicks, especially at the beginning when they were such bobble heads. One point when Jackie getting out of the nest bowl, a chick was stuck to her. She didn’t notice. Fortunately, as she moved around on the edge of the nest – and it’s quite wide, that edge of the nest – the chick became unattached. It stayed there until it tumbled back into the nest bowl, which is where it needs to be in order to be protected from the elements by one of the parents. The camera angle wasn’t wide enough to tell exactly what happened when the chick tumbled back in, but given the velocity of the tumbling, I believe Shadow pushed it back in.

Nature is not always kind. The chicks are not nice to each other. Chick 1 has been especially rude, pecking at siblings while they are trying to eat. Given how challenging eating is when your beak is small and you are still learning how to stand and hold up your head, it must be very distracting.

Nevertheless, as of this writing (March 11, 2025) all three chicks are doing well. They are all getting fed. They all have full crops (the part of the esophagus where full-grown eagles can store up to two pounds of food for later). Sometimes they don’t show that much interest in eating more because they are so full.

We don’t know what will happen. There’s no guarantee of a happy end. A raven may swoop in and steal a chick, or Chick 1 may push its siblings out. Something may happen to the parents, in which case, the eaglets are out of luck. The last two seasons were disappointing. This time at least there is hope.

Bits and pieces

Link to Youtube Big Bear Eagle cam 1. This shows the close up.

Link to Youtube Big Bear Eagle cam 2. This is the wide view.

Friends of Big Bear Valley. This link goes to the recap in Google Docs.

On March 9, 2025, six fish and one coot were delivered to the nest. It is a bad time to be a fish or a coot when Jackie and Shadow are feeding their littles.

It seems that the chicks are better behaved when Jackie is doing the feeding rather than just Shadow. But it could have been just that Shadow was feeding the chicks when Chick 1 was hungrier.

PS stands for poop shot. And if a chick is pooping, then it is eating and digesting and things are in working order. You will notice that the chicks go down so their rears are sticking up so the poop has a good chance of being shot out of the nest.

There’s Fiona, a flying squirrel, who apparently lives in the area and sometimes harasses them at night.

At night the camera still runs, using technology that allows us to watch without disturbing the eagles.

Overall rating

Four out of four eaglets. I think it’s the best reality show out there!

Victoria Grossack loves math, birds, Greek mythology, Jane Austen and great storytelling in many forms.