A bald eagle believed to be Jackie is receiving care at an Ojai facility after getting into a scuffle with two other eagles. This video was broadcast on the NBC4 News at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, July 20, 2026.
The injured bald eagle that was found on the ground in Big Bear over the weekend appears to have gotten into a scuffle with a younger pair of eagles over territory and food, nonprofit organization Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV) believes.
The eagle, which was confirmed to be Big Bear’s famed bird Jackie, was spotted on the shoreline of Dana Point Park on the northwest side of the lake on Friday, according to FOBBV Media Manager Jennifer Voisard. She added that it appears the eagle may have been defending her territory against a couple of subadult eagles.
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“That's what they do; they steal fish and try to take territory,” Voisard said. “The two subadults came, and there was an altercation, a brief altercation, on the ground where they tried to attack Jackie. Jackie was able to defend them and fend them off with her talons, but she was unable to fly away and so she stayed around in that area.”
Tensions in the bird world came about on Thursday and the ground altercation happened on Friday, Voisard said. The injured eagle was taken to the San Dimas Raptor Rescue around 2 a.m. Saturday.
Noemi Navar, Recreation Service Leader with the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department, said the eagle wasn’t healthy when wildlife experts arrived to help. Since it was wounded, the capture took only about five minutes.
“Whenever you see any type of bird of prey on the ground, especially at night, that’s a sign of concern because there’s predators around and things like that, so they typically try not to be on the ground,” Navar said. “So, that was a big determination that something was wrong.”
The San Dimas Raptor Rescue promptly assessed the eagle to its fullest ability before handing it over to a licensed eagle rehabilitation facility. It was then transported to the Ojai Raptor Center for a full assessment and treatment.
“She did look weak; she did look pretty hungry,” Navar said. “... We did an assessment and it didn’t look like she had any fractures or anything like that. But ultimately, we took her to the experts in eagles. They’re experts in eagles so we took her over to Ojai, which they’re able to run full labs and reports.”
Navar’s team and FOBBV are awaiting the lab results’ findings, but the eagle is said to be in stable condition.
The rescue comes amid Jackie’s disappearance from her and her mate, Shadow’s, nest, which led to wildlife officials to believe the injured bird was the famous eagle.
Voisard said Shadow is maintaining the nest well and has continued to defend it. According to FOBBV, Shadow delivered six fish to his nest, where the eagle couple’s two eaglets remain.
It’s unclear when the injured eagle’s lab results will return.
