Bird flu, not rat poison, is what killed Big Bear's Jackie, necropsy finds
Nearly two months after the most-watched bald eagle in Southern California died, wildlife officials have named what killed her — and it was not the rodenticide found in her liver.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife released the final necropsy report on Wednesday, Oct. 14, concluding that highly pathogenic avian influenza was the primary underlying cause of Jackie's decline and death. The examination was performed by veterinary pathologists at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, supported by extensive laboratory and toxicology testing. "In an uncommon presentation of the virus, the infection caused a severe ulcer in her stomach that led to persistent internal bleeding, anemia, and the development of bacterial sepsis," said Steve Kubiski, the alliance's director of disease investigations. The findings were carried by the Los Angeles Times, The Associated Press, KTLA and the Orange County Register, among others.
Jackie, a female bald eagle with an estimated hatch year of 2012, belonged to the Big Bear Valley nest in the San Bernardino National Forest. In mid-July she was found grounded on the lake's north shore, unable to fly, after a scuffle with two subadult eagles. She was taken to the Ojai Raptor Center in Ventura County on July 18 and logged as Patient 26-519. Exams found severe anemia, emaciation, dehydration, large blood clots in both wings and a kidney, and abnormal kidney and lung findings. After more than three weeks of intensive care, she died in the early hours of Aug. 10, at about 14 years old.
The post-mortem turned on her stomach. Jackie had severe, chronic inflammation and ulceration of the ventriculus, the muscular gizzard, producing persistent internal bleeding and severe anemia while letting bacteria into her system — a secondary bacterial infection. Severe inflammation and blood clots were also found in her heart and major blood vessels. Follow-up testing detected HPAI genetic material in several tissues, including the ulcerated gizzard tissue. Testing ruled out West Nile virus and lead poisoning.
Toxicology screening found brodifacoum, a common anticoagulant rodenticide, in Jackie's liver, along with other persistent environmental contaminants. But the necropsy showed none of the uncontrolled bleeding typical of anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning, so investigators did not identify it as the primary cause of illness or death.
Consistent with protocols to prevent the spread of HPAI, Jackie's remains were cremated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Eagle Repository. Officials said her longtime mate, Shadow, remains in Big Bear and appears healthy, and the report found no evidence that Shadow or this year's eaglets, Sandy and Luna, were sick. HPAI continues to circulate in U.S. bird populations: waterfowl and shorebirds are natural hosts, and raptors are typically exposed by preying on or scavenging infected birds.
Jackie became a global name through the round-the-clock nest camera run by Friends of Big Bear Valley, mounted on a Jeffrey pine near Fawnskin about 145 feet above the ground. Over her life she laid 25 eggs, 10 hatched, and seven eaglets fledged: Stormy, Simba, Spirit, Sunny, Gizmo, Sandy and Luna. Sandy hatched April 4, 2026, and Luna on April 5; both left the nest in late June and were last seen on camera July 23.
In early August, while Jackie was still in critical care, a female eagle wearing a lavender leg band first appeared on the cameras. Identified as KD1 and later named Kaydee by the nonprofit, she has a 2022 hatch year. Since then the footage has shown her and Shadow calling in sync, working on the nest and touching beaks. Nesting season at roughly 7,000 feet starts in December, and one weather analysis warns that an untested pair could face repeated storms and freezing rain in a Super El Niño winter.
On Sept. 26 a life-size wooden carving by chainsaw artist Paul Waclo was unveiled at Fawnskin Freedom Park — a park renamed in her honor — showing Jackie in flight with a fish. On Oct. 3, the "Wings Over Big Bear" commemoration drew an estimated 2,000 people to Bear Mountain Ski Resort, many in Jackie hats and T-shirts. The necropsy answered the question of how she died; the environmental pressures it documents did not die with her.