By Jeffrey A. Rendall, Photos by Jeff Rendall (Note: Images are NOT pictures of Jackie or Shadow; they are from the Raptor Center in Sitka, Alaska)
(Images of the Big Bear Lake trail are near Jackie and Shadow’s nest tree)
Jackie the Eagle taught us a lot about ourselves in her years as an Internet-cam “star”
The Queen of the Eagles is dead. Long live the Queen.
This is how many, many people recently reacted to the news the Jackie, the now world-famous Big Bear Lake (California) Bald Eagle, had died. As Jackie’s fans know, the eagle had become sick in about mid-July, plagued by an illness that her human handlers could neither succinctly diagnose, nor cure.
Jackie had been caught on video in a lakeside scrap with a pair of juvenile bald eagles, a fight where she’d apparently gotten the worst end of it. Eagle experts suggested Jackie must not have been at full strength to begin with, as an established adult female bald eagle probably would’ve been strong enough to fend off challenges from other eagles, especially juveniles.
I’m far from an eagle specialist and I’ll leave the behavioral interpretation to the “experts”, including the people in Big Bear Lake who were responsible for installing the Eagle Cam next to the huge eagle’s nest that had surreptitiously opened the door to the world of nesting pair Jackie and her mate Shadow.
I’d watched hundreds of hours of footage from the live, 24-hours-a-day video feed and the eagles never provided any indication that they recognized they were being watched. Either that, or the large raptors were very good actors! The whole thing had a “Truman Show” quality to it. But man, did the raptor birds put on a good and entertaining show for all who tuned in!
Over the course of the nearly two years I’d been aware of the Eagle Cam, I witnessed the cycles in the eagles’ lives and marveled at how closely they paralleled our own existences, particularly the raising and caring
for each other and their young ones. I saw Jackie and Shadow nurture two (probably female eagles) last year (2025), Sunny and Gizmo – and then two more young eagles this year (2026) who local schoolchildren had named Sandy and Luna. Luna was thought to be a male eagle since “he” was smaller than his nestmate.
Jackie and Shadow had two eggs that failed to hatch earlier this year, a consequence that frightened a number of eagle cam onlookers who’d noted that ravens had invaded the eagle nest and breached and then consumed the eggs. The eagle “experts” thought the eggs probably weren’t viable, since Jackie and Shadow would not have allowed the carrion birds to do so without being challenged.
The world then saw Jackie produce a second clutch of eggs later in the spring, which did indeed hatch and provided another season’s worth of amazement for 
regular fans of the eagle cam. Jackie and Shadow never disappointed. Both took turns incubating the eggs, fending off potential predators and making runs down to the lake below to catch fish for the “home”.
I never knew how many fish that eagles caught, particularly when they have always-hungry young eaglets. Both eagles would tear pieces of fish and hold them so the eaglets could have their fill. The feeding was practically constant and both adults shared in the various duties though Jackie did most of the nest minding while Shadow dealt with the lion’s share of the fish inventory.
The eaglets behaved like children. They squabbled, played tug-of-war with the catch and spent a lot of their hours sleeping and simply observing the world around them. Jackie and Shadow would do regular nest “maintenance” too, frequently bringing new sticks and soft fluff to the “home” to provide the most comfortable living quarters for themselves and the rapidly growing eaglets.
It’s almost like we could mark the passage of the seasons by the growth progress of the eaglets, first waiting for them to try to fly, and then spending several weeks exploring the “neighborhood” while Jackie and Shadow kept track of them and even fed them when they weren’t able to make it back to the nest for meals.
Jackie and Shadow took great care of them. When the season’s youths finally “fledged” for the last time, the parents moved on, continuing in their own life cycles. At last, I learned the true meaning of “Empty-nesters”, as the eagle home environment seemed “lonely” when the little ones went off on their own.
The mating pair would take some time off and then eventually return to the nest to “fix it up” waiting for the next nesting season to come around. Both eagles, Jackie in particular, would busy themselves with rearranging the sticks they would bring to the nest. It was as though each eagle understood precisely where he or she wanted a specific stick to be.
The whole scenario was fascinating to follow. Nature at its finest. A great “show” every day, without fail.
In the process, us “fans” became quite attached to Jackie and Shadow and would be distressed if something was amiss at the nest. Whenever such things occurred, the eagle “experts” assured us that it was “normal” for eagles and other birds to act this way. And not to worry over it.
Well, the recent developments involving Jackie’s illness were different. You could just sense that something very serious was wrong, and that even if Jackie recovered, she wouldn’t return to the nest with the eagle cam. A tremendous sadness was experienced by all.
The Raptor Center’s reports on Jackie’s condition were honest and straightforward. Towards the end, it was apparent that Jackie was not recovering, and we knew her end could be near. It was.
When I received the bad news, I didn’t know what to think or feel. As many have commented, we grieve over a wild creature we never came into contact with, except on the internet. Most of us don’t know anything about eagles, what they “think” and why they do the things they do. But there was something natural and orderly about their lives that appealed to us nonetheless. The 
eagles had a “relationship” despite not being able to tell each other what was wrong.
The eagles knew by instinct and learning. They had “duties” that they fulfilled. Something within their brains allowed them to survive and thrive and persist despite lots of trials. And, through the camera, shared those experiences with us. We could go away tomorrow and they’d still keep doing what they were doing, and they’d be none worse off for it.
But I can say we learned a lot from Jackie and Shadow. I think of them in relation to my own kids and the lives that they’ve developed since they’ve “fledged” and left the nest. Will they become good parents? Will they keep on when the days are long and tough and life isn’t always so much fun?
What to take away from Jackie’s life, now that she’s gone? Will Shadow be okay? Did this year’s babies even realize what happened to their mom? (Sandy and Luna had just about left the nest for good when Jackie was stricken, then haven’t been seen on the camera since.)
Jackie taught us more about humanity than we could’ve ever realized.
Is there someone to “blame”? How to make sense of what happened to Jackie? Have we finally discovered that tomorrow is another day, even in the world of eagles?
I wish I could thank Jackie for the manner she enriched my life in ways she couldn’t possibly know or understand. Life will go on. Similar to losing a pet, we must keep going. And maybe the best way to get over the sadness is to care for another pet to deaden the hurt. The family sustains itself.
Thank you, Jackie. May the skies be clear and the lakes be plentiful in eagle heaven. Goodbye. We won’t forget you!
Image is from Facebook.
We have a bald eagle nesting pair near our home in Virginia.
