t’s time to help name the two new eaglets welcomed by Big Bear’s famous bald eagles, Jackie and Shadow, earlier this month! Friends of Big Bear Valley has officially launched its eaglet naming contest.
As KABC-7 in Los Angeles reports, the two eaglets broke through their shells over Easter weekend. Now, they’re eating and growing quickly in the nest. Friends of Big Bear Valley, which owns the live cameras near the eagles’ nest, is now officially accepting entries on its website through April 26.
Fans of the beloved bald eagle couple can pay donations to the nonprofit in exchange for name submissions. Then, a computer program will randomly draw a list of finalists. Continuing with tradition, Big Bear third graders will then vote on the winning names.
The Entire Process
You’ll have to make a small donation to Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that runs the popular livestream of Jackie and Shadow’s nest. One entry is $5. Three entries will cost $10. And 10 entries will set you back $25. Names also have to be gender neutral because it’s not known yet whether the chicks are male or female. And this probably goes without saying, but any inappropriate, explicit or derogatory names will automatically be disqualified.
Big Bear third graders will make the final call on the chicks’ names. But they’ll use a computer-generated list of finalists from the naming contest to vote on the winners.
You can find more information on the contest here. Friends of Big Bear Valley is accepting suggestions until 11:59 p.m. Sunday, April 26.
The Naming Contest was Sandy’s Favorite Tradition
This is a bittersweet time for Friends of Big Bear Valley. The hatching of the eaglets happened two months after the person credited with the launch of the eagle cam, Sandy Steers, passed away. “I think she’s in the nest, because that’s really where she wanted to go, and wanted to see,” Jenny Voisard with Friends of Big Bear Valley told Eyewitness News in an interview earlier this month.
Voisard said the eaglet naming contest was Sandy’s favorite tradition. “You can submit a name or two, or however many that you want, and then we will do a random drawing, and we will take a list of finalists to Big Bear third graders, and they will select the final names. And that was one of Sandy’s greatest joys was being able to do that,” she said.
Joy and Sorrow
The successful hatchings came after a setback this winter, when Jackie and Shadow’s first clutch of two eggs this season was destroyed by ravens. This time last year, Jackie and Shadow raised two eaglets, Sunny and Gizmo. After fans from all over watched them grow up, the two young eagles finally fledged the nest.
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Photo Credit: Petar Marshall / Shutterstock.com