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To help reduce disturbance to young bald eagles we are using satellite transmitters to identify and protect communal roost sites.

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Duke Farms Eagle Cam

Welcome to the Eagle Cam, a collaboration with Duke Farms, to help raise awareness for nesting bald eagles in New Jersey.

Bald Eagles are extremely sensitive to human disturbance. At no time should anyone approach nesting eagles. People who want to observe or photograph eagles and who come too close may actually cause the birds to abandon a nest.

Located on Duke Farms in central New Jersey, the Eagle Cam allows viewers an up close and personal view into the lives of a pair of bald eagles as they breed, incubate, and raise young. It is a perfect tool for teaching about wildlife and covers a variety of topics including animal behavior, bird biology and natural history, endangered species, food webs, contamination, and MORE!


2024 Nesting Season

1st egg laid January 22nd-hatched February 29th.

2nd egg laid January 25th-hatched March 1st.


March 17th, 2024

The chicks are a little over two weeks old.  Their down is now a medium gray on their bodies while their heads still have white down.  They are getting more active and there is plenty of food being brought to the nest. Nest monitor Diane Cook noticed some unusual behavior by the chicks.  The male came into the nest and settled down next to the chicks.  Both chicks went after the male, he put them in their place but they went after him again.  There wasn't food involved.  The male doesn't spend as much time caring for the chicks perhaps they aren't use to him being in the nest?  

Image of March 15th, 2024: chick 1, "yelling" at maleMarch 15th, 2024: chick 1, "yelling" at maleImage of March 15th, 2024: chick 2 "yellling" at DadMarch 15th, 2024: chick 2 "yellling" at Dad

March 2, 2024

Image of March 2nd, 2024, feedingMarch 2nd, 2024, feedingImage of March 2nd, 2024, egg toothMarch 2nd, 2024, egg tooth

March 1st, 2024

The first egg hatched yesterday afternoon. Around 1pm the 1st egg was hatching and the second egg had a small pip. The second egg hatched today at 7:23 pm.

Image of February 29th, 2024, egg hatching and pip.February 29th, 2024, egg hatching and pip.

By 5:30 pm the chick had hatched out of the egg but the egg shell was still wrapped around part of the body.

Image of February 29th, 2024; February 29th, 2024;

This morning we got a good look at the little ball of fluff.

Image of March 1st, 2024, good look at chick in morning.March 1st, 2024, good look at chick in morning.

The adult is keeping both the hatching egg and chick warm on this brisk day. At around 2:30pm today we got a good look at the chick. It was bobbing its head and looking around. The adult attempted a feeding. It appeared to get a little food.

Image of March 1st, 2024; chick waiting to be fed.March 1st, 2024; chick waiting to be fed.Image of March 1st, thanks to Diane Cook for this adorable screen grab of the chick being fed.March 1st, thanks to Diane Cook for this adorable screen grab of the chick being fed.Image of March 1st, 2024:7:23pm; 2nd chick hatched; March 1st, 2024:7:23pm; 2nd chick hatched;

February 26th, 2024

Yesterday the male brought food to the nest, this is a good sign that hatching isn't too far off. Nest monitor Diane Cook reports that the female has been fluffing the nest bowl and rolling the eggs. Something landed out of view of the cam which caused her to put her wings out in a defensive posture. Today there wasn't a pip seen on the egg but both adults took turns incubating and rolling the eggs.

Journey North has an very informational document on Bald Eagle hatching.

Image of February 25th, 2024, female in defense postureFebruary 25th, 2024, female in defense postureImage of February 25th, 2024February 25th, 2024

February 18th, 2024

The pair has been through two snow storms in just a week. On February 13th, the female incubated through the first storm. By the 15th the nest was mostly cleared of snow. Then another storm hit on the 17th and once again the female incubated through the storm, getting covered in snow. By the time the snow was finished she was surrounded by a wall of snow. Eagles develop a brood patch on their breast area before egg laying. The hormonal changes cause the feathering in this area to fall out leaving a patch of bare skin. Blood vessels in this exposed area bring warm blood close to the surface of the skin. The brood patch helps eagles incubate eggs even in the coldestweather.

Image of February 13th, 2024 snow stormFebruary 13th, 2024 snow stormImage of February 15th, 2024February 15th, 2024Image of February 17th, 2014February 17th, 2014Image of February 17th, 2024February 17th, 2024

February 3rd, 2024

The pair has a two egg clutch this season. Since the male is new this season and not banded it is difficult to tell the male and female apart. The male does seem inexperienced. He was seen stepping on an egg, where as the female balls up her talons and gently walks around the eggs. The female is doing the majority of the incubation duties. The first egg was laid January 22nd so thirty-five days would be February 26th. But there is often delayed incubation on the first egg, so hatching will most likely occur after the 26th.

Image of 2 egg clutch, January 30th, 20242 egg clutch, January 30th, 2024

January 25th, 2024

The second egg was laid today around 3:36pm

Image of 2nd egg laid, January 25, 20242nd egg laid, January 25, 2024

January 23nd, 2024

The first egg was laid yesterday. In the morning an immature eagle spent an hour in the nest. The cam got a nice close up of the immature eagles plumage.

Image of immature eagle January 22, 2024immature eagle January 22, 2024

Nest monitor Diane Cook reports, "they finally returned to the nest after the visitor left - just before 3:30. They both poked around the nest a bit. She laid down while he brought back a new stick and began arranging. He even stepped on her once as her "labor" began! She spread her wings about 3:35, and the action picked up from there. He came back one more time to rearrange sticks. He finally left, and she could get down to business. It looks like the egg had arrived by 3:39. She stood up, looked under her, and then finally moved to show us the egg. She then gave it a little roll to the center of the cup."

Image of 1st egg, January 22nd, 20241st egg, January 22nd, 2024

January 15th, 2024

Nest Monitor Diane Cook reports that today was a busy day at the nest: "The turkeys were back again this morning. One landed on a lower branch of the nest tree. I continued watching more begin running around the ground. At one time I counted at least 14, but there could have been more." The female brought a fish back to the nest later. She was not sharing with the male. There was an immature eagle who visited about 12:35. It landed on the branch, then went to the nest. It stayed about 20 minutes. Both eagles were back in the nest, adding and placing a new branch. She sat in the nest for some time this afternoon. About 3:15 the male brought in prey. It was hard to see, but it looked like the wing of a bird. She made it clear she would not share and he left soon after. "

Image of January 15th 2024January 15th 2024

January 5th, 2024

The nest is looking good. The pair are often seen at the nest in the early morning hours and sometimes in the afternoon. In 2023 the first egg was laid on January 20th.

Image of December 31st, 2023December 31st, 2023

You never know what you'll see at the nest. Diane Cook got this screen shot of a turkey perched at the nest.

Image of Turkey perched at nest, January 4th 2024Turkey perched at nest, January 4th 2024

There is a new male in the pair. Sometime in the fall, a new male made his appearance, we know this because he isn’t banded. The previous male was NJ banded A/59, he was 23 years old. We don’t know what happened to A/59; he could have died or been injured and the new male took his place.

To the relief of cam viewers the newly formed pair started rebuilding the nest in October and have since been working together to prepare the nest for eggs. The pair has also been seen mating.

Image of December 5th, 2023; pair matingDecember 5th, 2023; pair mating

DUKE FARMS EAGLE CAM FAQS

How long have eagles been nesting at Duke Farms?

The eagle nest at Duke Farms was first discovered in the fall of 2004. The pair started using the nest in 2005. In the fall of 2012 Hurricane Sandy's 70+ mph tore off the upper half of the nest tree, destroying the nest completely (the camera and camera tree were spared). The pair built a new nest 100ft south of the eagle camera in late December 2012. The view of the nest was limited by branches and leaves during the 2013 nesting season.

In what type of tree is the nest located?

In December 2012 the pair built a new nest in a sycamore tree.

How high is the nest?

The nest is about 80 feet high.

How long has the camera been at the nest?

Image of Duke Farms eagle nest camera.Zoom+ Duke Farms eagle nest camera.

The camera was set up in 2008 and transmitted the picture beginning in March 2008. In the fall of 2013 the camera was moved to the new nest tree.

Where is the camera located?

The camera is in the nest tree positioned above to view the nest from above. The camera can be maneuvered remotely to pan, tilt and zoom.

How many young have been raised in this nest?

A total of 32 eagle chicks have been raised and fledged from this nest since 2005.

  • 2005 - 1
  • 2006 - 2
  • 2007 - 1
  • 2008 - 2
  • 2009 - 3
  • 2010 - 2
  • 2011 - 2
  • 2012 - 1
  • 2013 - 2
  • 2014 - 3
  • 2015 - 2
  • 2016 - 2
  • 2017 - didn't incubate
  • 2018 - failed, 2 eggs
  • 2019 - 2
  • 2020 - 2
  • 2021 - 2
  • 2022 - 1
  • 2023 - 2

When do the birds start incubating?

Over the past couple years the pair has typically began incubation in mid-late January. In 2021 and 2022, the pair started incubating on January 17 and in 2020 and 2023 they began incubation on January 20, 2023.

Are the adult eagles banded?

In 2009 and 2010 it was noted that both the male and female were NJ- banded birds, because they each had a green color band on one leg and a silver federal band on the other.

In 2011, however, there was a new female in the pair, which we know because she was not banded.

In 2020 there was a new unbanded female in the pair. In addition to behavior changes, close up views of the eyes showed a difference between the old and new female's iris.

Have any of the chicks been banded?

Yes, the chicks were banded in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014,2016 & 2019 & 2022

  • 2007 - 1 male
  • 2009 - 3 males
  • 2010 - 2 females
  • 2011 - 2 males
  • 2014 - 2 males, 1 female
  • 2016 - 2 females
  • 2019 - 1 male, 1 female
  • 2022 - 1 male
  • 2023 - not banded

How is the eagle cam funded?

Duke Farms hosts the eagle camera and the internet connection. The Endangered and Nongame Species Program and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ support their work and conduct the on-site banding and provide biological consulting.

How many eagle nests are in NJ?

In 2022 there were 267 nesting eagle pairs monitored in New Jersey. Two hundred fifty of these were active (laid eggs) and 197 were successful in producing 335 young.


Learn More:
Duke Farm Eagle Cam Update Archives:

Duke Farms 2022-2023 Eagle Cam Updates

Duke Farms 2021-2022 Eagle Cam Updates

Duke Farms 2020 Eagle Cam Updates

Download 2019 Duke Farm Eagle Cam Updates

2019 Duke Farm Eagle Cam Updates - 1.7MB
News from the 2019 Duke Farm nesting season

Download 2018 Duke Farms Eagle Cam Updates

2018 Duke Farms Eagle Cam Updates - 11KB
News from the 2018 DF season.

Download 2017 Duke Farms Eagle Cam Nest Updates

2017 Duke Farms Eagle Cam Nest Updates - 203.4KB
News from the 2017 nesting season. The female was replaced at the nest in 2017 and no young were produced.

Download 2015 Eagle Cam Nest Updates

2015 Eagle Cam Nest Updates - 701.0KB
Highlights from the Duke Farms eagle cam nesting season in 2015.

Download 2014 Eagle Cam Nest Updates

2014 Eagle Cam Nest Updates - 210.8KB
Summary of the 2014 nesting season at the Duke Farms eagle nest. In 2014 the pair successfully raised three young. Unfortunately, in August one of the young males was found dead in Maine.

Download 2013 EagleCam Nest Updates

2013 EagleCam Nest Updates - 19.8KB
Highlights from the Duke Farms eagle nesting season in 2013.

Download 2011 EagleCam Nest Updates

2011 EagleCam Nest Updates - 59.8KB
Highlights from the Duke Farms eagle nesting season in 2011.

Download 2010 Eagle Cam Nest Updates

2010 Eagle Cam Nest Updates - 31.0KB
Here is a summary of the 2010 nesting season for the pair of bald eagles that nest at Duke Farms in Hillsborough, NJ.

Find Related Info: Bald Eagles, Raptors

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The Return of Bald Eagles in New Jersey Story Map

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Use interactive web-mapping and multi-media to learn about the recovery of bald eagles in New Jersey between 1985 & 2015.

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Educators!

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Download lesson plans and activities to enhance your use of the EagleCam in the classroom! Download fun facts about bald eagles, activities about raptors, journaling pages for students, and MUCH MORE!