The most famous bald eagles in the world need some help naming their newborns.
California’s Big Bear Lake is home to two certifiable celebrities: Jackie and Shadow. People on the internet have fallen in love with the bald eagle couple ever since a nature camera that was set up by Friends of Big Bear Valley.
The nonprofit is the one that set up the camera on the nest, which Jackie and Shadow have been utilizing it to birth many eaglets in the past couple of years. In recent months, they’ve been working (and taking shifts) to keep their eggs safe and sound – and most importantly, warm.
They welcomed their two eaglets into the world earlier in April, and have more recently been working to keep them fed and safe in their nest.
Bald eagles are quite large, measuring up to 40 inches tall and weighing up to 12 pounds. That means they need a sizable nest to call home, and they typically build their nests in an area with a good view of the surrounding landscape, usually in large trees, cliff sides, or other high-elevated rock formations. The one that Jackie and Shadow call home is high up in a tree by Big Bear Lake.
And thanks to Friends of Big Bear Valley, we’ve got a 24/7 video feed of the nest, and a couple of weeks ago, we got to see their two eggs hatch. It was welcomed sight worthy of celebration, considering the first set of eggs that Jackie and Shadow laid in the winter were destroyed by ravens.
The two eaglets born on Easter weekend appear happy and healthy… but now they just need names, as the nonprofit organization explained on their website:
“Help the Big Bear Third Grade name Jackie and Shadow’s chicks! For a small donation, you can submit 1, 3 or 10 names. You can make as many donations as you would like. You have until Sunday, April 26 at 11:59 PM Pacific time to submit your names. A computer program will randomly draw a list of finalists for the Big Bear third graders to vote on.”
Cute little things, eh?
The two soon-to-be-named eaglets have been growing and learning every day, and their parents have kept them well-fed, according to the Friends of Big Bear Valley social media. Now, the nonprofit leads the effort to name the two younglings before they grow up and leave the nest (and an attempt to keep a luxury development from possibly relocating the bald eagle couple).
For fun, I’m gonna throw out a couple of country music adjacent names as potential options: Willie and Dolly. If you want to play a role in naming the two eaglets, all you have to do is visit the official Friends of Big Bear Valley website and submit potential names by donating (and do so by April 26).
Here’s a link to the live stream in case you wanted to check in on Jackie and Shadow’s family… and get a better idea of the personalities of the eaglets, for naming purposes:
