California's famous bald eagles, Jackie and Shadow, have their two eggs eaten by ravens:

A famous bald eagle couple in California had their eggs eaten by ravens in front of thousands of people on social media.

The two eggs belonged to Jackie and Shadow, whose nest is livestreamed 24/7 on YouTube via a camera installed by advocacy group Friends of Big Bear Valley.

Thousands watched in distress as two ravens swooped into the nest in the San Bernardino National Forest, broke open the eggs, and started feeding just before 3pm on March 7.

The birds had abandoned the eggs which were laid on camera in early January but took too long to hatch.  

Jackie and Shadow originally took turns watching over the eggs while waiting for them to hatch, which ordinarily occurs within 35 days, but gradually lost faith and were even seen squabbling before leaving it behind.

Jackie and Shadow, the famous bald eagle couple from California, had their eggs eaten by ravens on Tuesday

The birds (pictured) are watched by thousands via a camera in their nest that streams to YouTube around the clock

Keen followers of the nest were quick to note that the eggs appeared runny when they were opened, suggesting they may not have been developing, or even fertilized. 

'If they developed at all, it was minimal,' Sandy Steers, a biologist and executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley told the LA Times. 

Steers has been watching the eagles for more than 10 years.

'The thing to know is, whatever Jackie and Shadow were doing, not being on the nest didn't have an impact on the eggs, because up until when the eggs were 30 days old, they were sitting on the nest full time and trading back and forth,' she said.

'By this time, the egg would've been fully developed, so the eggs had already stopped developing,' she added.

Jackie laid one of the eggs (pictured) on January 11 in their nest in the San Bernardino National Forest

 The birds abandoned the eggs in the nest about 120-feet up in the top of a pine tree after it failed to hatch

The running consistency of the eggs led many to suspect they were either developing too slowly or not at all

Shadow has been Jackie's mate since his arrival in 2018 and she has laid eggs to him every year since - some of which fledged and left the valley

Jackie and Shadow's nest sits about 120-feet up at the top of a pine tree in San Bernardino National Forest.

The camera was set up by the group Friends of Big Bear Valley in 2015 and the various inhabitants of the nest have been monitored since.

Jackie hatched in the valley in 2012, according to the group, and in 2017 started occupying the nest with the camera in it.

Shadow has been her mate since his arrival in 2018 and she has laid eggs to him every year since - some of which fledged and left the valley.

Steers explained that this year problems with the eggs might have been caused by low temperatures, but also said it's expected that not all eggs will hatch. Jackie's eggs typically hatch around half of the time.

'I'm always hoping for the best, but when they stopped sitting on [the eggs], it seemed like something was off,' he told the LA Times. 'We'll just have to see what they do next.'