‘Amazed by nature’: Fans mourn beloved Jackie, the California bald eagle, whose legacy continues to soar | California
Bald Eagle Jackie lived on the shore of Big Bear Lake in Southern California for most of his 14 years. But his death earlier this week drew international attention.
The Los Angeles Times described it as “arguably the most famous bald eagle in the world.” For years, millions of people tuned into a live stream of Jackie’s nest, watching her raise her eaglets, live life with her mate, Shadow, and, perhaps most memorably, incubate her eggs while almost completely buried in snow.
She developed a huge following of devoted fans who tuned in day after day. And she became a pioneer of nonprofit fundraising, showing the conservation movement a new way to reach the general public and connect people directly with nature.
Following Jackie’s death on Monday, Friends of Big Bear Valley, the environmental education nonprofit that manages the livestream, received thousands of comments and emails from people sharing what the eagle meant to them, said Jenny Voisard, the group’s media manager.
On social media fan pages, people were swapping their favorite stories about Jackie and sharing how seeing her and Shadow helped them through their toughest times.
Trisha Dale Green, a local wildlife photographer who has been watching eagles for nearly two decades, runs a Facebook page that shares her photographs of the birds of prey with about 177,000 followers. She closely documented Jackie and witnessed firsthand how unique she was, with her meticulous care.
Gloria Ackman, a retired English teacher from southern Illinois, had tuned in occasionally for years. But after her husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer in February 2025, the couple began watching him constantly. The cameras offered a glimpse of another world, he said.
“These magnificent eagles face many challenges. However, they remained focused on each other, their eaglets and survival,” Ackman said. “Their determination and resilience was so inspiring. I like to think we embraced those qualities ourselves as we dealt with the hardest thing we’ve ever had to face.”
Jackie brought people together, Ackman said, and that will be her legacy.
“It doesn’t matter what your politics are, what your religion is, what your country is, you can look at these eagles and be amazed by nature,” he said.
People connected with the animals, said Beth Pratt, regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation and a conservation leader, as they did with the P-22 mountain lion and the Skinny owl.
“It reminds us of the savagery within [us]” Pratt said. “There’s something in us that longs for a connection to that. “Seeing that unfold gives us really powerful meaning.”
And like P-22 with the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, Jackie and Shadow inspired conservation efforts. Friends of Big Bear Valley raised $10 million in funding this year, including a $5.5 million donation from OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and his wife, Anna, to permanently conserve land on the lake.
“Jackie’s legacy is assured at this point. She truly rose high for her kind,” Pratt said.
After Ackman’s husband died in December, she continued to tune into the live broadcast. She celebrated when Jackie and Shadow made a second clutch after the first one was eaten by crows earlier this year. And, in Jackie’s absence, she has continued to watch Shadow carry on without his partner.
“Shadow is standing on the pine tree, looking at Big Bear and seeing his big, beautiful world, and that gives me the inspiration to keep going and keep seeing that beauty,” he said.
