“Please know that although Sandy would not have wanted us to outright name one of the eaglets Sandy, she would have been honored that you and the students went through the process and named one of the 2026 eaglets after her,”FOBBV writes.
The students selected from 30 randomly drawn names, including Windy, Kazoo, River, and Hazy. The three runners up were Star, Chip, and Phoenix.
It’s been another roller coaster nesting season forJackie and Shadow, a pair of internet-famous bald eagle parents living in San Bernardino National Forest in Southern California. Aftertwo of their eggs were destroyed by ravensin January, Jackie and Shadow laid two new eggs that have successfully hatched.
Chicks usually stay in the nest until10 to 14 weeks of age.
Before leaving the nest, the chicks face threats from other birds of prey, including hawks, ravens, other eagles, and owls. Inclement weather can also present challenges for the chicks. In 2025, a March snowstorm resulted in the death of one of Jackie and Shadow’s three chicks.
During fledging, only 70 percent of eaglets survive. One of the greatest threats is from cars that can injure or kill the birds while they scavenge for food on roadkill.
The pair first got together in 2018 and successfully raised chicks in 2019 and 2022. However, their eggs failed to hatch in 2023 and 2024. Only 50 percent of eagle eggs successfully hatch, so this pair has already beaten the odds.
In 2025,Jackie laid three eggsthat all hatched in early March. On March 13, a strong snowstorm dumped up to two feet of snow and battered the nest with strong winds. Only two of the chicks were visible on the live cam when the storm passed by the next morning. FOBBV later confirmed the passing of one of the chicks. The two surviving chicks were laternamed Sunny and Gizmo.
Young eagles usuallyfledge-or leave the nest and fly-when they can flatten their wings and have feathers capable of flight. This typically occurs when the birds hit10 to 14 weeks of age. Males also tend to take their first flight a little sooner than females.
According to FOBBV,fledglings from Southern California have been spotted as far south as Baja California, as far north as British Columbia, and as far east as Yellowstone National Park.About70 percentof bald eagles survive the fledgling stage. FOBBV does not tag their eagles, so it’s not possible to follow the chicks’ journeys after they flee the nest.
Kaynak: Facebook
