Famous 'Big Bear' Eagles Hatch First Egg Of 2024
Famous Big Bear eagles Jackie and Shadow shared a very romantic date on New Year's Eve and now this personal, private adult eagle time has led to an incredibly exciting announcement - on Thursday evening Jackie laid the first egg of 2024!
The eagles had been feathering their nest since early this year and all eyes have been on the Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam waiting for this moment.
If this wasn't special enough, last night the Facebook page announced, "NEWS UPDATE—Egg#2!!Jackie just laid her second egg…at 13:59 this afternoon. Her labor process for this egg started only 4 minutes before that. This time the process was fast, efficient and beautiful! The puffing up, the teakettling, the entire process went much faster and seemed to be a bit less work for her.Amazing job, Jackie! Congratulations to you and Shadow!"
Related: Bald Eagle Couple Who Went Viral Building a Nest Welcome Their First Chick
Jackie and Shadow have laid eggs for the past few years. In 2022 they hatched Spirit and the baby eagle stole hearts everywhere when they appeared on the live cam.
Facts About Eagle Parents
Once the eggs are hatched and incubation begins, the male and female both take babysitting duties and take turns sitting on the eggs, but the female does most of the work. Typical!
But that doesn't mean the eagle not sitting on the egg is just relaxing somewhere, because when one sits on the nest, the other is hunting for food or perching nearby to protect the nest.
During nest exchanges the eggs are rolled over by either parent about every hour to 2 hours during the incubation period. The eggs need to be
Eagle eggs need to be kept at about 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
The incubation period lasts between 34 and 36 days, and once the chicks hatch they nest for 10-12 weeks. By the time these babies are 9 weeks old they are fully grown!
During that time both mom and dad eagles tend to the nest and make sure their chicks have raw meat 1-8 times a day. Both the parents hunt for food. Towards the end of the nesting period the mama eagle does most of the hunting.
Eagles don't clean their nests, and they can get quite disgusting after awhile. According to The Journey North, over time nests get pretty gross with old, maggot-filled fish parts stuck in the sticks of the nest, baking in the hot sun!
Watching the eagle cam is such an exciting and fun way to learn about these beautiful birds. We can't wait to see what the chicks look like when they finally hatch!
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