California’s famous bald eagles Jackie and Shadow have both their eggs EATEN by crows – thousands tuned in to the live stream to watch the eaglets hatch
- Two crows ate the eggs of a pair of bald eagles in California this week
- The eggs were laid in January, but the pair abandoned them last week.
- Jackie and Shadow’s nest is monitored 24 hours a day via live streaming
Ravens ate the eggs of a famous California bald eagle pair.
The two eggs belonged to Jackie and Shadow, whose nest is watched by thousands via a live-streaming camera that was set up by advocacy group Friends of Big Bear Valley and streams to YouTube 24/7. of the week.
Just before 3:00 pm on March 7, thousands watched in anguish as two ravens swooped down on the nest, cracked the eggs and began to feed.
Jackie hatched the eggs on camera in early January and until last week the two took turns supervising them in the nest. Typically, bald eagle eggs should hatch within about 35 days, causing the couple to gradually lose faith.
Finally, after some fighting, the pair agreed to abandon the eggs, creating an opportunity for the two ravens to turn up just a few days later.
The famous pair of bald eagles in California, Jackie and Shadow, were eaten by crows on Tuesday. The pair abandoned their eggs, which appeared not to be hatching, days before
Thousands of people watch Jackie and Shadow (pictured) through a camera in their nest that streams to YouTube 24 hours a day.
Keen followers of the nest were quick to note that the eggs appeared liquid when hatched, suggesting that they may not have developed or even been fertilized.
“If they developed, it was minimal,” said Sandy Steers, biologist and executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley. The Los Angeles Times.
Steers has been watching the eagles for more than 10 years.
“The thing to know is that regardless of what Jackie and Shadow were doing, not being on the nest had no impact on the eggs, because even when the eggs were 30 days old, they were sitting on the nest full time and trading back and forth,’ he said.
“By that time, the egg would have been fully developed, so the eggs had already stopped developing,” he added.
Bald eagle Jackie laid one of the eggs (pictured) on January 11
The nest is about 120 feet high in the top of a pine tree in the San Bernardino National Forest.
The runny consistency of the eggs led many to suspect that they were developing too slowly or not at all.
Shadow has been Jackie’s partner since her arrival in 2018 and has laid her eggs every year since then, some of which fledged and left the valley.
Jackie and Shadow’s nest is about 120 feet up in the top of a pine tree in the San Bernardino National Forest.
The camera was installed by the Friends of Big Bear Valley group in 2015 and the nest’s various inhabitants have been monitored ever since.
Jackie was born in the valley in 2012, according to the group, and in 2017 she began occupying the nest with the camera inside.
Shadow has been her companion since her arrival in 2018 and has laid her eggs every year since then, some of which fledged and left the valley.
Steers explained that the problems with the eggs this year could have been caused by cold temperatures, but also said that not all of the eggs are expected to hatch. Jackie’s eggs hatch about half the time.
“I always hope for the best, but when they stopped sitting (on the eggs), it looked like something was wrong,” Steers told the LA Times. We’ll have to see what they do next.
