Sunny and Gizmo have only been alive for a few weeks but have already garnered many fans.
The bald eaglet siblings, unbeknownst to them, have become a bright spot in many people’s lives online since they hatched last month.
Friends of Big Bear Valley, a non-profit organization that runs a 24-hour live feed to monitor local eagles, has allowed the world to watch beloved eagle couple Jackie and Shadow raise their young in real time. And people are eating it up.
The pair (and their parents) were thrust into the limelight shortly after birth, with fans regularly posting new photos and interesting snippets from the YouTube livestream on social media. Jackie and Shadow, though, have been internet famous since 2018, three years after the group set up the webcam in San Bernardino National Forest.
Friends of Big Bear Valley also regularly shares details about the family’s activities to an audience of more than one million users. Just last week, the group shared some tips on telling Sunny and Gizmo apart, complete with a photo illustration identifying both of the chicks at different angles.
” I think it’s wonderful that we get the opportunity to see what nature can do and, you know, show us all the possibilities,” Sandy Steers, executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley, told LAist in a recent interview.
Who are Sunny and Gizmo?
The two chicks of popular bald eagle couple, Jackie and Shadow, have been named “Sunny” and ‘Gizmo,” according to the nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley.
Sunny and Gizmo were two (of three) hatchlings born to Jackie and Shadow in March 2025. The third eaglet, named Misty in honor of a former volunteer, died after a snowstorm hit the area.
Sunny, who is approximately seven weeks old, and Gizmo will take their first flight away from the nest in a few weeks, LAist reported.
“Wherever they are, Jackie and Shadow will be following them around, feeding them and bringing them food and making sure that they learn how to get food on their own,” Steers told LAist.
After the pair have gotten a handle on feeding and the whole flying thing, they will be able to take off and see the world, according to LAist.
Internet watches Sunny, Gizmo grow up
Sunny and Gizmo, Jackie and Shadow’s babies, are growing fast! The eaglets will soon feed on their own.
Any cute or potentially interesting move made by any member of the bald eagle family has and will continue to be documented by fans. Naturally, the focus right now is on Sunny and Gizmo.
Most of the fans are just in awe of the cuteness. Others, who know the Jackie and Shadow’s progeny lore, check in and offer prayers in the hope that the eaglets are healthy enough to survive any adverse weather conditions that may pop up.
Here’s a look at some recent comments (or fan art) made about Sunny and Gizmo shared to social media.
How long have Jackie and Shadow mated?
Jackie and Shadow have been a mating pair since 2018, when Shadow replaced Jackie’s previous mate, according to the Friends of Big Bear Valley.
Jackie was believed to be the first recorded bald eagle chick hatched in Big Bear in 2012. She was initially known as Jack until it became apparent she was female, and her name was switched to Jackie.
Shadow hatched in Big Bear in 2015.
Traditionally, eaglets born in Big Bear are named by local third-grade students.
What happened to Jackie and Shadow’s other eggs?
2020 and 2021: Jackie’s clutches of eggs were either eaten by ravens or didn’t hatch.
January 2023: Jackie delivered the couple’s first egg of the year on Jan. 11. Her second egg came days later on Jan. 14.
March 2023: Jackie and Shadow abandoned the two eggs weeks after they were due to hatch in the family nest.
March 2022: Jackie and Shadow’s eaglet, Spirit, was born and was considered a miracle baby by many.
Bald eagle officially named national bird of U.S.
Despite long being recognized as a symbol of the United States and even adoring the country’s Great Seal, the bald eagle was only formally recognized as the national bird this week.
The official designation came through a bill signed into law by former President Joe Biden on Christmas Eve 2024.
Bald eagle population on the rise, scientists say
While Jackie and Shadow will probably see no young eagles take flight, the bald eagle population, as a whole, has flourished in the past 15 years, federal officials announced last week.
According to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — or FWS — report, scientists estimate 316,700 bald eagles are living in the lower 48 states, a total that has quadrupled since 2009.
The FWS credited decades of protection and conservation with the prohibition of DDT. The once widely used pesticide was banned in the U.S. in 1972 after its adverse environmental and health effects were discovered, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
For bald eagles, the chemical caused eggs to have “shells so thin that they often broke during incubation or otherwise failed to hatch,” the FWS said. “By 1963, with only 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles known to exist, the species was in danger of extinction.”
In 1978, the eagles were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Bald and golden eagles are also protected under a separate federal statute prohibiting killing, possessing or selling the birds.
By 2007, the FWS said bald eagles had “recovered to the point that they no longer needed the protection of the Endangered Species Act,” and the species was removed that year.
Eaglets still face several obstacles to survival, including disease, lack of food, bad weather, and human interference. The FWS said studies show that about 30% don’t live past their first year.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Sunny and Gizmo: Jackie and Shadow’s celebrity eaglets growing fame