Big Bear Valley elementary school children have picked names for two bald eagle chicks that hatched last month as the world watched.
Students named the bigger chick Sunny and the smaller chick Gizmo, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that organized the naming contest as part of its outreach efforts. The group maintains two web cams that monitor and livestream the day-to-day happenings in the nest atop a Jeffrey pine overlooking Big Bear Lake.
Jackie and Shadow, the beloved nesting eagle pair and stars of the nonprofit’s livestream, cared for a three-egg clutch this year. All three eggs hatched, but the oldest eaglet later died in a snowstorm. The nonprofit named the chick Misty in honor of a volunteer who died.
Participants in the naming contest submitted more than 54,000 names, according to the nonprofit. A random drawing of 30 names included the two winners, Sunny and Gizmo, selected by Big Bear Valley school children. Though the naming rights have been granted to third-grade students in previous years — that’s when local children study bald eagles in class — this year the names were chosen by students in grades 3 through 5.
The nonprofit announced the names Tuesday, April 1.
Meanwhile, the two surviving eaglets are growing — no longer small balls of white and gray fluff, Sunny and Gizmo have developed a thicker, darker down and are showing more control and curiosity about their surroundings.
It may be another couple months before the eaglets fledge, or fly away, from the nest. Spirit, the last bald eaglet that survived nesting season, fledged about 11 weeks after hatching.