Bald eagles Shadow and Kaydee share sticks and ‘beaky kisses’

The bald eagle nest in Big Bear Valley is seeing a flurry of activity lately. Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV) cameras have captured Shadow and Kaydee tending to the nest with stick deliveries and even spotted a few ‘beaky kisses’ exchanged in recent weeks.

Late summer is typically a quieter time on the nest with parent eagles spending “vacation time” elsewhere in the valley after their chicks have fledged. This summer, we’ve seen Shadow repeatedly visit the nest he once shared with his partner, Jackie. Jackie passed away on August 10 at the Ojai Raptor Center after battling unexplained anemia. She arrived at the rehabilitation facility in July after being found injured after a fight with two sub-adult eagles near Dana Point Park, California. Jackie and Shadow had nested together since the summer 2018 after Shadow edged out her former mate, Mr. B.

Following Jackie’s death, a 4-year-old eagle named KD1 (later renamed Kaydee by FOBBV) began hanging out near the nest. Shadow has appeared open to socializing Kaydee, as cameras have spotted the pair singing together and spending time on the nest. It’s still not clear if Shadow and Kaydee will advance their relationship beyond friendship (eggs are typically laid in January), but the duo have been sharing an increased amount of time together.

“As we continue to see Shadow and Kaydee interacting socially with one another, one thing we can count on is that Kaydee’s visits bring us a quiet peacefulness,” FOBBV wrote on Facebook. “We will always miss our beloved Jackie, but this eagle friendship is a comfort to witness, from the moment the sun sets to when it rises in the morning and sets again when the day is over.”

While excited viewers refer to beak-to-beak contact as “kisses,” it’s more often called billing by wildlife experts. A 2024 study published by the Journal of Raptor Research noted that mutual billing was observed as a common exchange in coupled eagles. Observers watching Shadow and Kaydee have reported Kaydee delivering beaky kisses frequently to Shadow, but this week was one of the first times he was observed returning the gesture.

The pair’s collaborative nest maintenance has also been a sign of their budding socialization together. In his time with Jackie, Shadow earned a reputation for his enthusiastic stick deliveries to the nest (with Jackie often accidentally on the receiving end of a stick to the head). Earlier this week, on September 12, Kaydee delivered her first stick of the season—a major milestone. Before bringing her own stick, she had spent her time on the nest rearranging sticks. The Raptor Research Project explains that “bonded [eagle] pairs start working on their nests by bringing in sticks, large branches, and soft materials to replenish and rebuild [their nest].” For eagles, sticks are a way to bond.

Stay tuned to FOBBV’s live cams to see nesting season unfold. The non-profit also posts updates on its official Facebook page.