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Friends of Big Bear Valley released a tribute video for Jackie, the wild bald eagle whose life at a Big Bear Valley nest drew online viewers, ahead of a community memorial scheduled for October 3, 2026. Jackie died on August 10 at age 14 after weeks of intensive care. The video’s release was reported by Popular Science on October 2; the available reporting does not establish what footage or audio the video contains.
Who Jackie was and why people followed her
Jackie was a wild female bald eagle associated with a nest in Big Bear Valley, California. Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV), a nonprofit, installed a camera at the nest in 2015, bringing viewers an unusually close look at the eagles’ lives. The Associated Press reported that Jackie began using the nest in 2017. The camera made her story accessible to people far beyond the valley, while the subject remained a wild bird rather than a captive animal.
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The precise account of Jackie’s earliest years has a qualification: she was not banded, so observers could not use a band to confirm her identity. The For Jackie timeline describes a near-adult female visiting an abandoned nest in fall 2016 and explains the limits of identifying that bird definitively as Jackie. The timeline and AP account support a broad story of her association with the nest, not certainty about every detail of her early lineage.
What is known about Jackie’s death
Jackie was found weak and unable to fly in July 2026. She received several weeks of intensive care at the Ojai Raptor Center and died there on August 10, aged 14, according to the San Bernardino County statement and AP reporting. Those accounts establish the rescue, treatment, and date of death; they do not establish a precise medical cause, so a more specific diagnosis should not be inferred.
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About the tribute video
FOBBV released the tribute shortly before the memorial weekend. Popular Science’s October 2, 2026 report confirms the release, but the reporting available here does not describe the video’s specific scenes, soundtrack, narration, or credits. The video can be understood in the context of Jackie’s public story and the community gathering, without attributing unverified contents to it.
Wings Over Big Bear memorial: schedule and ways to take part
Wings Over Big Bear was scheduled for October 3–4, 2026. The event was framed as both a remembrance and an opportunity to learn about wildlife and stewardship. The organizer’s Visit Big Bear event page described the following plans:
| Date | Plan | Details reported by Visit Big Bear |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, October 3 | Community commemoration at Bear Mountain Ski Resort | 43101 Goldmine Drive, Big Bear Lake. Venue scheduled to open at 10:00 a.m.; ceremony at 10:30 a.m. The event was described as free, with RSVP encouraged. |
| Saturday, October 3 | Remote viewing | A livestream was scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. for people unable to attend in person. |
| Sunday, October 4 | Wildlife education activities | Activities were planned at locations across Big Bear Valley; times and locations varied. |
These are event plans for October 2026, not recurring dates. Because the dates have passed, the schedule is useful as context rather than current attendance information. The Visit Big Bear page is the official source for event details and any subsequent information.
A public remembrance with a conservation dimension
The gathering was presented as a community event involving local, tribal, wildlife, and conservation organizations, including FOBBV, the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation, the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, Southern California Mountains Foundation, San Bernardino National Forest, and Big Bear Mountain Resort. That range of participants places the memorial alongside wildlife education and stewardship, rather than making it only a fan gathering.
Visit Big Bear CEO Travis Scott said, “Jackie gave millions of people a reason to look up, pay attention to the natural world, and care more deeply about wildlife and the places that sustain it.” The “millions” figure is the wording of the organization’s September 23, 2026 announcement; it is not presented there as a separately measured audience count. The statement appears in the Visit Big Bear announcement distributed by PR Newswire.
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