Bald eagles Jackie and Shadow abandon eggs that won’t hatch after weeks of tending
Bald eagles Jackie and Shadow have been tending to their two eggs in California through snow and storms since mid-January.
But the eggs have been weeks overdue to hatch, so experts said there likely wouldn’t be any eaglets from this clutch.
The two eagles continued to incubate the eggs despite this. Now they have given up and left the eggs in the nest near Big Bear, the Friends of Big Bear Valley said in a Sunday, March 5, Facebook post.
Jackie laid her first egg Jan. 11 after two days of large storms, then her second egg came Jan. 14 in the middle of a storm, McClatchy News previously reported.
Bald eagles typically incubate eggs for about 35 days, and Jackie and Shadow incubated their eggs well beyond that time frame.
Shadow reluctant to give up on eggs
The two took turns watching over the eggs until Jackie gave up on them.
“Jackie seems to have accepted that these eggs are not going to hatch. Yesterday, she made a midday visit to the nest for some leftover frozen lunch, but did not sit on the eggs all day,” the nonprofit said March 5.
Shadow was more reluctant to leave the eggs, though, the group said.
He lingered at the nest longer and spent an entire night incubating the eggs before finally leaving them.
“It seems that Jackie finally convinced him to accept what was happening — neither of them visited the nest or sat on the eggs all day,” the nonprofit said.
The eagles haven’t returned to the nest since.
Experts don’t know why the eggs didn’t hatched. They could have not been fertilized, or they could have stopped developing, the nonprofit said.
What will happen next?
Since Jackie and Shadow have left the eggs in the nest, the nonprofit said a raven, squirrel or other predator could take them.
“It is possible that Fiona (the flying squirrel who visits the nest at night) will try to carry them away — she has tried in the past, but the eggs were way too big for her to pick up,” the nonprofit said in the Facebook post.
The eggs might also get buried if the two eagles return to the nest with sticks.
But there’s still hope for Jackie and Shadow to lay more eggs, even though bald eagles typically only lay one clutch per year, the group said.
Jackie has laid a second clutch before. The two were also seen mating after she laid the first set of eggs.
This story was originally published March 6, 2023 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Bald eagles Jackie and Shadow abandon eggs that won’t hatch after weeks of tending."
