Hatch watch: Bald eagle chicks expected to emerge on livestream from Southern California mountains

It will be a hatching seen around the world.

Live cameras pointed at a bald eagle nest in the mountains of Southern California are broadcasting views of the impending arrival of three eagle chicks.

Tens of thousands of people have been tuning in to watch the parents-to-be, a female eagle named Jackie and a male named Shadow, tend to three eggs that were laid in late January. The chicks could emerge anytime in the coming days, prompting a lively "hatch watch" online.

The nest is located about 145 feet high up, atop a Jeffrey Pine tree in the San Bernardino Mountains, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit organization that owns and operates the nest cameras.

Activity at the nest is being closely monitored, with the group providing live updates that include vocalizations from the birds of prey, as well as daily recaps on the comings and goings of Jackie and Shadow.

On Thursday, for instance, it noted that Shadow visited four times and spent 3 hours and 2 minutes at the nest. The soon-to-be-father also delivered one fish to Jackie.

This week, the nonprofit group has been on the lookout for signs of the “pip,” the first tiny crack or hole in the eggshell that signals that a chick is ready to break out.

“As the chick reaches maximum size inside the egg, the amount of oxygen supplied through the egg membranes becomes insufficient. Sitting comfortably inside the egg is no longer an option, it’s time to go and do some hard work!” Friends of Big Bear Valley wrote in a Facebook post earlier this week.

The organization added that the hatching process usually takes between one to three days and is a “very strenuous process.”

“It is a major test for the chick,” it wrote.

All three eggs in the nest were laid weeks ago: one Jan. 25, the second Jan. 28 and the third Jan. 31.