Jackie and Shadow's third eaglet hatches into Big Bear's famous feathered family

Big Bear’s beloved bald eagle nest is now home to a family of five.

Jackie and Shadow’s third chick popped out of its eggshell in the wee hours Saturday morning, confirmed by Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that manages the popular YouTube livestream of the famous feathered couple.

"As everyone excitedly waited, the pip hole kept growing until by 2:11 a.m. this morning, the chick was visible with much of the shell gone. It was already drying but not quite out of the shell," wrote Friends of Big Bear Valley in a post.

"And at today's early morning feeding at 6:13 a.m., Chick #3 was presented to the world!" the post continued.

It took the eaglet more than 40 some hours to work its way through the hatching process after the first pip — or crack — in the egg was spotted Thursday morning. More than 99,000 people were watching live as the pip continued to grow and move Friday morning.

It’ll be temporarily named Chick 3 until a yet-to-be-announced naming contest is complete. It joins its fuzzy, bobble-headed siblings Chick 1 and Chick 2, who hatched Monday night and Tuesday morning.

There has been a bit of sibling rivalry, also known as bonking, between the older chicks.

The behavior usually eases up once a pecking order is established, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley, with dominant chicks tending to eat first while the smaller ones wait or walk around.

But with plenty of food from Big Bear Lake and attentive parents, bonking hasn’t been too much of an issue for the nest in the past. The nonprofit noted the rivalry usually quickly turns into companionship for the chicks.

Peter Sharpe, a wildlife biologist with the Institute for Wildlife Studies and the expert behind Jackie and Shadow’s camera system, told LAist the chicks will “just pretty much eat and poop and sleep for the next few weeks.”

“Basically, they're just going to be growing feathers and sitting around for most of the next six to seven weeks,” he said.

The eaglets will start to fledge when they’re around 10 to 12 weeks old, which is when they can flap their wings and have feathers capable of flight. Males tend to take their first soar a little sooner, Sharpe noted, potentially because they’re smaller than the females.

“Some birds don't fly till they're 16 weeks old or something,” he said. “I don't know if they're scared or what.”