Bald eagles become empty nesters after babies take flight

By Ben Barry

A pair of eagles that found fame after a YouTube livestream went viral are becoming empty nesters after their babies were spotted starting to fly the nest.

The bald eagle parents, Jackie and Shadow, welcomed three eaglets - Sunny, Gizmo and Misty - in March 2025 in their nest in California's Big Bear Valley.

Sunny, who is the eldest of three eaglets, soared to new heights last week when she left the nest with her sister, Gizmo.

In the footage, Gizmo is standing right behind Sunny as she prepares to take flight for the first time around 10:45 a.m. on June 2.

Jackie and Shadow gained widespread attention in 2023 when a live stream of their nest showed two eggs, but the eggs failed to hatch.

Earlier this year, fans spotted that Jackie and Shadow had three new eggs in their nest.

Now, thousands of people will tune in to the live stream - which has 673k subscribers on YouTube - run by a non-profit organization Friends of Big Bear Valley to see what the bald eagles are up to.

In a statement, Friends of Big Bear Valley said: "She [Sunny] fledged at 10:46 a.m.

"She was sighted shortly after with our wide-view camera on one of Jackie and Shadow's favorite roosting trees.

"She eventually returned to the nest and spent the night with her sister, Gizmo.

"Today, Sunny took off again for another flight.

"We are watching to see when Gizmo, who is four days younger, will be ready for her turn."