Someone heard a gunshot, and before long, U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife officers had been dispatched to the rural community of Brush Prairie, Washington, where they found a dead bald eagle, the ground around its head stained red with blood.
On Tuesday, a 66-year-old Clark County man was charged with shooting and killing the bird with a shotgun in violation of federal law, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
Benjamin G. Allen is accused of violating the Bald and Gold Eagle Protection Act and unlawfully killing a migratory bird, both misdemeanors.
The incident took place on February 5, 2026. A veterinary exam revealed the eagle had two shotgun pellets in its brain, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Allen, who according to investigators kept chickens not far from where the dead eagle was discovered, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in early September.
He could face up to a year in prison and a $500,000 fine for the first charge and up to six months and a $5,000 fine for the second.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife investigated the case.
Eagles are effective hunters, equipped with superior eyesight and powerful talons, and while they prefer fish and carrion, they’ll target free-ranging chickens if given the chance, according to BackYardChickens.com.
Millions of fans have been following the saga of Jackie, a bald eagle who earned fame by appearing on Big Bear Valley's Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam but who has been recovering at a California raptor center after a July 17 altercation with two juvenile eagles.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Washington man charged with killing bald eagle
