One bald eagle chick appears to be missing from Big Bear nest

Fans of Big Bear Valley’s beloved bald eagles were crestfallen Friday, March 14, when they awoke to find that one of Jackie’s and Shadow’s three eaglets appeared to be missing from the nest.

Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that operates two webcams that livestream the eagles’ nest to the world, confirmed Friday morning that during the first feeding, only two chicks were visible.

The announcement shocked fans of the eagles, who days earlier cheered the news that all three eaglets were “eating, growing and thriving,” according to the nonprofit.

“So sad for us, the humans watching,” one of the eagle cam‘s hundreds of thousands of viewers wrote on social media Friday morning. “If it helps any of us, we can remember that the eagles won’t think about the fact that there were three. They will only think about the fact that they see babies with mouths open to feed. They won’t feel the loss because their instincts say there are little living things here that I must feed and protect. It won’t stop us from being sad, I know.”

Winter storms in recent days have dumped fresh snow in the mountains, including the nest in the Jeffrey pine that overlooks Big Bear Lake. When Jackie moved from the center of the snow-covered nest shortly before sunrise Friday morning, only two of the three eagle chicks were visible.

Friends of Big Bear Valley attempted to comfort viewers on YouTube: “We cannot see the entire nest bowl because the view remains partially obstructed by snow,” the nonprofit wrote. “We are observers of nature and do not know the entirety of the current situation. We are holding our eagle family in our hearts and sending love to our FOBBV community world-wide.”

This is the second year that Jackie has delivered a three-egg clutch and the first time any of her eggs have hatched since 2022, when her eaglet Spirit fledged and soared away.