The “Hotel California” lyric pages case may be over, but I’m still here for your eagles coverage fix! Haliaeetus leucocephalus, that is. Meet Jackie and Shadow, American Bald Eagle prospective parents in California, who have captured the hearts of thousands tuning in to their YouTube channel. Conservation group Friends of Big Bear Valley set up a live camera back in the fall of 2021, and recently the main programming has been tracking Jackie as she laid three eggs in late January, and the ensuing pip watch that began a month later. What has really kept viewers returning, though, is how the couple repeatedly fight over who gets to sit on the eggs. May all expecting parents have a partner so dedicated.
“After her full nights on the eggs, Jackie sometimes calls for Shadow in the early dawn. Shadow instantly comes in to take over…but the past few days he has been more stubborn than ever about refusing to leave when Jackie returns,” the organization shared in a Sunday update posted on Facebook.
“On Thursday when Shadow arrived with fluff, Jackie quickly let him take over,” the organization continued. “An hour later, she returned and announced her presence…and Shadow immediately argued.”
Friends of Big Bear Valley noted that the two birds began to fight as Jackie “bit Shadow on the beak” and after a while, he eventually gave in and she took over. From there, the organization joked that the female bald eagle “played hardball” as she refused to leave the eggs for several hours.
However, the two birds fought again the next day over who would keep the eggs safe with Jackie waiting “almost 10 minutes before Shadow would leave” after taking a Friday morning break.
The organization noted that Jackie bit his beak again and “tried gentle beak poking” — both of which were ignored by Shadow — before she finally “had to push her weight around by laying on him to get him to move.”
This continued for the next several days, and the birds’ antics even brought in more than 30,000 viewers, who tuned in to watch the live cam on the nest on Monday, according to KTLA.
Despite all the bickering between the two birds, the organization previously noted in a Feb. 13 Facebook post that it’s all out of love.
“Jackie has been pretty patient and understanding of his love of incubation, so she usually gives him a little extra time on the eggs,” Friends of Big Bear Valley said. “When she thinks ‘okay that’s enough’, she gives a gentle love nibble or nudge, or a sweet beak kiss to soften him up a bit before he gets up and ready to leave. Then, of course, she moves in quickly on the eggs!”
However, the organization said the pair of birds also adhere to a set of rules, including that Jackie is the one who will mainly preside over the nest, especially during harsh weather. During a February storm, Jackie watched over the nest for a whopping 62 hours, according to CBS News.
Wow. I can’t think of the last time a man brought me fluff. Take out all the eagle-specific language, and everything Jackie does to keep Shadow in line holds up for our human relationships. Announce your presence? Check. Play hardball? Check. Ultimately win the argument by laying on top of your partner until they move? Check plus. And is it just me, or does “gentle beak poking” sound like something Will and Kate absolutely get up to?
I’ve spent all afternoon pretending to work while watching the live stream of Jackie and Shadow sit on the eggs. In some ways it’s not exactly riveting — a lack of plot will do that — and yet I can’t take my eyes off of them. As of this writing, none of the eggs have hatched and there are serious concerns that it may be too late for Egg 1 (which was laid on January 25). People are so freaked out that Egg 1 has missed the window that the executive director of the organization posted a message last night, urging everyone to take deep breaths and try to remain calm. “Watching nature builds our patience, our strength, our compassion and our resilience.” Gosh I hope there’s some happy news to tweet about soon. I mean sure Jackie and Shadow have their squawks, but they’re good eagles and have been doing everything right to bring their clutch into the world.
photos via Facebook/Friends of Big Bear Valley