Big Bear eagles Jackie and Shadow lay first egg of season

Big Bear bald eagles Jackie and Shadow welcomed their first egg of the nesting season on Friday.  

Jackie laid the egg at about 4:32 p.m. and guarded it throughout the night. The eagles' nesting season runs from January through April. 

Jackie and Shadow raised little eaglets in 2019 and 2022, but struggled to have any hatchlings the following years.

However, in 2025, Big Bear's famous eagle couple welcomed their latest batch of eaglets, sisters Sunny and Gizmo.

It typically takes 35 days for eggs to hatch, but the nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley said Jackie and Shadow's have historically taken a bit longer, roughly 38-39 days.

Last year, Sandy Steers, biologist and executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley, said once the chicks hatch, it will take 10-14 weeks until the little eaglets grow to about 3 feet tall. 

Sunny and Gizmo took a few months before taking their first flights from their nest last June.

The family and their nest in the San Bernardino National Forest became world-famous after the Friends of Big Bear Valley installed a camera for its livestream on YouTube. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said bald eagles mate for life, with each living up to about 30 years in the wild.