Shadow and a new bald eagle being called Katie have spent time together two days in a row, including on sacred ground: the nest that he shared with Jackie for nearly a decadeShow Caption
As fans of Jackie the beloved bald eagle mourn her death, they've found an unexpected source of comfort: a new eagle called Katie.Fans of Jackie and her longtime mate Shadow have been continuing to watch their nest on the livestream camera that made the raptor pair the most famous eagles on Earth. The latest video revelation is that Shadow spent more than 10 minutes in the couple's nest with Katie on Thursday, Aug. 13.It was the first time Shadow has been in the nest since July 23 and the first time he has been spotted with Katie.Shadow and Katie seem curious about each other and appeared to touch beaks as they checked each other out Thursday. Katie even picked up a few sticks and moved them around, leading some to joke that she was already rearranging the furniture."Thousands of us are watching like it’s the newest season of The Real Eagles of Big Bear Valley," Debra Saplak of Akron, Ohio, posted on Facebook. "After everything Shadow has been through, there’s something pretty special about watching this possible new chapter unfold − at their pace, on eagle time."Shadow and Katie were back together again on Friday, Aug. 14, when another live camera captured them perching near each other in the same tree for about two hours."It reminds us that nature is nature and life will go on," said Jenny Voisard, spokeswoman for Friends of Big Bear Valley, the group that runs the eagle cameras and works to protect the wild birds. "People are finding comfort in the fact that Shadow's not alone."Here's what you need to know about Katie and whether she could become Shadow's new mate.Who is Katie the eagle?The new eagle sidling up to Shadow isn't officially named Katie though that's what many of Jackie and Shadow's fans have taken to calling her. She's actually named KD1, a moniker given to her by the humans who banded her.Katie was born in March 2022 in the Prado Basin in Southern California's Orange County, about 70 miles southwest of Big Bear Lake, according to Jenna Carpenter, a wildlife biologist with the Orange County Water District. She and other wildlife officials banded her, which helps them learn more about bald eagle behavior, lifespan and territory.Some fans poked fun about the bands around Katie's ankles. "I don't know, Shadow," one fan posted on TikTok. "A lady with an ankle monitor may be fun . . . or trouble."Though no one knows for sure, Carpenter said in a Facebook video that she and other wildlife officials believe Katie is female based largely on her size and other characteristics. Katie is also about 4.5 years old, which means that if she is female, she's on the cusp of her first breeding season.One part of Katie's background that has Jackie and Shadow fans buzzing is an incredible coincidence. Katie hatched to eagle parents named Lucy and Ricky in 2022. Though Jackie hatched a decade earlier and 70 miles away, her parents also were named Lucy and Ricky.Fans also couldn't help but notice that Katie was first seen in Jackie and Shadow's nest on Monday, Aug. 10, just hours after the dreaded announcement that Jackie had lost her battle with a mysterious illness."I think Jackie sent her to Shadow," eagle fan Cynthia Chamberlain wrote on Facebook. "She wouldn't want him to be alone."What about Jolene?At first, some people thought that Katie was Jolene, a 3.5-year-old eagle who is believed to have attacked Jackie just before her hospitalization and was seen perching with Shadow in July.It's unclear where Jolene is now but eagles her age often explore new territory. Though some eagle fans had good fun with her name and joking that Shadow was cheating on Jackie, Jolene is considered a bit too young to be thinking about mating. That usually happens at the age of 5.Voisard said that there are a lot of visiting eagles in Big Bear this summer and that the area is a hotspot for the species when they're outside of nesting season.Will Shadow and Katie mate?Only time will tell if Shadow and Katie will mate.Eagle mating hormones don't kick in until December or January in California. For the past eight years, that's when Jackie and Shadow have mated and begun reinforcing their longtime nest.Though most eagles mate for life, Shadow wasn't Jackie's only mate. Her first mate was known as Mr. B, and the pair had two baby eagles in 2018. One of the eaglets died after a 24-hour rainstorm, but the other, named Stormy, survived and left Big Bear that summer.Soon after, a new male came to town, chased off Mr. B and stole Jackie's heart. That interloper was Shadow.While wildlife experts don't know if Katie will be Shadow's next love, they agree that he will mate again and father more eaglets."He's got some time," Voisard said. "All we can do is watch and see."Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter who covers the death penalty, cold case investigations, breaking news − and sometimes eagles − for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.
