Big Bear Bald Eagle Chicks Hatch During Livestream

BIG BEAR LAKE, CA -- The two Big Bear bald eagle eggs hatched this week. The first chick arrived 10 a.m. Sunday, while the second arrived around noon Monday — both hatches were captured on a livestream, U.S. Forest Service officials said.

Two eggs were laid in early January in the nest of a pair of eagles. The pair took turns on the nest during the 35 day incubation period, including through a snow storm. The second egg was laid three days later than the first and is expected to hatch within a few days.

The hatching was shown on a livestream by the nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley, with the support of San Bernardino National Forest.

The parents are a newly identified nesting pair. U.S. Forest Service biologists believe that the female hatched from this nesting area in February 2012 and that she now occupies her natal territory after it was abandoned in 2017.

On the livestream camera, she can be distinguished from the male by a few black-tinged tail feathers. By next year, when she has gained her full adult plumage, those feathers will be all white. She is also larger than the male, a size distinction common in most raptors, officials said.

Officials said if all goes well, the chicks will leave the nest in two and a half to three months. They’ll stay close to their parents while they hone their hunting skills. Until then, the parents will continue to help provide food.

Watch the livestream below to see the second egg hatch.

--Photo via Friends of the Big Bear Valley