BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. — Jackie, the bald eagle who became an internet sensation through a live nest camera and a symbol of the species’ recovery in California, died Monday, August 10, after more than three weeks of intensive medical care for a serious illness, Friends of Big Bear Valley confirmed.
Jackie, estimated to be 14 years old, passed away in the early morning hours at the Ojai Raptor Center in Ventura County. She had been treated for severe anemia and kidney inflammation. Despite a blood transfusion, oxygen therapy, supportive care and around-the-clock monitoring by veterinarians and specialists, her condition deteriorated in her final days. Her packed cell volume, a measure of red blood cells, fell to critically low levels. The exact underlying cause of the illness remained undetermined at the time of her death.
Jackie was found grounded and unable to fly near Dana Point Park on the north shore of Big Bear Lake around July 17 after an altercation with two younger eagles. Rescuers from the San Dimas Raptor Rescue team of the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation recovered her and transferred her to the Ojai facility. Veterinarians said the fight likely left her grounded but that she appeared to have been ill for some time beforehand. She was underweight and alert upon arrival but required assisted feeding initially.
For more than a decade, nature lovers around the world watched via a 24-hour online video feed as Jackie and her longtime mate, Shadow, tended their nest high in a Jeffrey pine overlooking Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles. The nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley installed the nest camera in 2015, initially focused on earlier eagles, and later documented Jackie’s arrival and pairing with Shadow around 2018. Viewers followed the pair through winter snowstorms, egg incubations, successful and failed breeding seasons, and the raising of several eaglets, including Sandy and Luna, who fledged in 2026.
Jackie was believed to be the first bald eagle known to hatch and fledge in the Big Bear area in recent history. The livestream drew millions of viewers, particularly during the pandemic years, and helped educate the public about bald eagle behavior, habitat needs and the broader recovery of the species in California after near-extinction decades earlier due to pesticide use and other threats.
The Ojai Raptor Center said Jackie’s remains were transferred to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Officials plan a necropsy and will later transfer them to the National Eagle Repository.
