Wildlife Experts Stunned to Find That Bird Flu Killed Jackie, the Beloved, Internet-Famous Bald Eagle

When Jackie, a beloved bald eagle who captured hearts across the country thanks to a livestream of her nest, died in August after several weeks in intensive care at the Ojai Raptor Center in California, experts were baffled by what had caused her mysterious illness. Now, a necropsy has revealed that bird flu was to blame, according to an October 14 statement from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The finding has caught scientists by surprise and underscores how the illness is causing devastation among wildlife populations across the United States.

Bird flu, or highly pathogenic avian influenza, is a contagious viral disease. As implied, it primarily spreads among birds, but one strain of the virus, H5N1, has been wreaking havoc in other animals, including dairy cows and wild mammals, in recent years. It has even reached isolated regions like Tasmania, Iceland and Antarctica.

In rare cases, humans can also contract this strain of bird flu; symptoms include eye redness, a cough and a sore throat. Eagles aren’t natural hosts for the virus. They’re usually exposed to it through contact with infected birds, common carriers being waterfowl and shorebirds, or by eating infected prey.

While bird flu was spreading among bald eagles in 2022, when more than 300 of the raptors tested positive for the illness, there isn’t currently an outbreak among the animals. That’s why experts are surprised by the cause of Jackie’s death. In the spring, California even declared that bird flu was no longer impacting the state’s poultry industry, he adds.

A few years later, the nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley installed a camera near her parents’ nest, which Jackie eventually took over. Viewers followed along as she and her recent mate, Shadow, raised chicks and carried out their daily activities among the San Bernardino Mountains. They became internet stars during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As of 2020, there were an estimated 316,700 bald eagles in the contiguous United States. The population has quadrupled since 2009. This past July, however, Jackie was taken to the Ojai Raptor Center after she was seen in a ground fight with two young eagles.