Big Bear bald eagle chicks could hatch soon

Tony Kurzweil
·2 min read

Hopeful parents-to-be Jackie and Shadow, Southern California’s viral bald eagle couple living in Big Bear, will begin pip watch later Thursday.

“I’m so Egg-cited, I just can’t hide it! We are 11 hours away from official PIP Watch 16:55 hrs LIVE CAM TIME,” Friends of Big Bear Valley posted on Instagram Thursday morning.

So, what is pip watch? “About four days before hatching the chick develops an egg tooth at the top of its bill,” journeynorth.org posted on its website. “From inside the egg the chick pokes a hole in the membrane.”

When a hole is poked through an egg’s membrane it is called the internal pip, and when a hole is pecked through the egg shell it is called the external pip, the site stated.

  • Jackie and Shadow, a local pair of bald eagles laid their first egg of 2024.
    Jackie and Shadow, a local pair of bald eagles laid their first egg of 2024. (Friends of Big Bear Valley)
  • Countdown to pip watch: Jackie and Shadow's Big Bear eagle romance
    Bald eagles Jackie and Shadow seen in their nest in Big Bear Valley. (FOBBV)
  • Live nest cam: Bald eagles Jackie and Shadow await three hatchlings
    One of two bald eagles, Jackie and Shadow, whose nest is in Big Bear Valley is captured on a live cam. (Friends of Big Bear Valley)

Friends of Big Bear Valley have set up a pair of webcams (a Nest cam and a Wide View cam) on YouTube for fans to follow this year’s journey to parenthood for Jackie and Shadow.

“The initial Pip usually looks like a small raise, often shaped like a star, and is only visible when the camera is zoomed in. The eggs may have some dirt smudges or fluff stuck on them – those are not pips,” Friends of Big Bear Valley stated.

Jackie laid three eggs this year. One each on Jan. 25, Jan. 29 and Jan. 31, with the 35-day incubation period now coming to an end.

The couple’s nest is located in Big Bear Valley in the San Bernardino Mountains and is about 145 feet up in a Jeffrey Pine tree.

Watchers can tell the bald eagles apart because Jackie is larger and her beak is both longer and thicker than Shadow’s.

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Friends of Big Bear Valley is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

“We protect and preserve our amazing natural surroundings through environmental education and advocacy about its value and community benefit,” the organization’s website states.

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