Friends of Big Bear Valley says Jackie and Shadow are again drawing attention after a young female bald eagle was seen perching and preening near Shadow while Jackie remains in critical condition at Ojai Raptor Center. The group’s live nest cam, which has followed the birds since 2015, is now watching whether the same pattern around the nest repeats as Jackie recovers.
Friends of Big Bear Valley says the new bird is a subadult believed to be about 3.5 years old, still short of the age when bald eagles usually begin mating and laying eggs, around 5 years old. In some cases, the group says, eagles begin to lay eggs when they are 4.
Jackie at Ojai Raptor Center
Jackie remains in an intensive care unit 170 miles from Big Bear Valley, California, after receiving a life-saving blood transfusion at Ojai Raptor Center. Friends of Big Bear Valley says she has been undergoing testing and treatment for a mysterious illness and believes the illness preceded the fight that led to her hospitalization.
The group posted on July 26 that Jackie “was not concerned at all about the subadult perching with her” in 2023. It added, “In fact, she continued to preen and seemed very relaxed, though glancing over at the other eagle occasionally to keep an eye on it.”
Shadow and the subadult
On July 22, Friends of Big Bear Valley said the subadult was seen with Shadow on a perch and that Shadow “had a lot to say” about it. The group later said Shadow showed some defensive behavior against the subadult, a sign that the pair’s immediate nest dynamics are still shifting while Jackie is away.
Some longtime fans have called the new female Jolene. Tracey Michelle, a Jackie fan from Indiana, posted on TikTok, “I don't know who has got to tell her but I know no eagle named Jolene is about to take Jackie's spot” and “That is Jackie's nest and Shadow is Jackie's man.”
Big Bear Valley nest cam
Friends of Big Bear Valley believes the same female perched near Jackie in 2023, which complicates the idea that the bird near Shadow is a new rival. If the subadult is the same bird, the present encounter is less a sudden intrusion than another turn in a longer pattern already tracked on the nest cam.
For viewers following Jackie and Shadow in real time, the practical question is not the nickname fans have given the bird but whether Shadow keeps interacting with the subadult while Jackie remains in critical condition. The live camera has already shown that this nest can change quickly, and the next shift will come from the birds themselves.
