Shadow Spends 2 Days With 4.5-Year-Old Eagle Katie After Jackie's Death

Q: With Jackie gone, will Shadow truly accept mysterious newcomer KD1 as his mate before the winter breeding season begins?

It is too early to say Shadow will accept KD1 as a new mate before winter, though the signs suggest a possible bond is beginning. What is known is limited but notable. KD1, a banded 4½-year-old bald eagle first seen near the Big Bear nest on Aug. 6, has repeatedly returned to the nest and to several of Shadow’s preferred nearby trees. On Thursday, Shadow flew into the nest with KD1 close behind, the clearest public sign yet that the two are tolerating — and possibly seeking — each other’s company. That still falls short of proof of a true pair bond. Friends of Big Bear Valley, which operates the livestream, has stressed that breeding season does not begin until later in the fall or winter, and that only then will it become clearer whether this is a lasting relationship or simply temporary association. Bald eagles often form strong long-term pair bonds, but those bonds are confirmed through repeated shared behavior around territory defense, nest work, and later breeding. KD1 appears to be near breeding age, and observers believe the bird may be female, partly because it seems larger than Shadow. But sex has not been confirmed, and that uncertainty matters. So the best evidence-based answer is that KD1 could become Shadow’s next mate, but no one can yet say he has truly accepted KD1. The coming months — especially behavior at the nest as breeding season approaches — will provide the real test.

3 articles · Updated · USA TODAY · Aug 14

Two straight days of sightings gave Jackie’s grieving fans a new focal point: Shadow spent more than 10 minutes in the Big Bear nest with Katie on Aug. 13, then perched near her for about two hours the next day.
Friends of Big Bear Valley said the encounters suggest Shadow is not alone, with viewers reading beak-touching and Katie’s stick-moving in the nest as signs of curiosity rather than aggression.
Katie is the fan nickname for KD1, a banded bald eagle hatched in March 2022 in Orange County, about 70 miles from Big Bear; biologists believe she is female and nearing her first breeding season.
That matters because Jolene—the younger eagle some first mistook for Katie—is considered too young to mate, while California bald eagle breeding hormones typically do not kick in until December or January.
Wildlife experts say only time will tell whether Katie becomes Shadow’s next mate, though they expect he will pair again after Jackie, his partner for about 8 years, died this month.