History of The Duke Farms Eagle Pair

by Larissa Smith, Senior Biologist

The Duke Farms eagle cam is extremely popular and just this week viewers watched as two chicks hatched. These two chicks will be watched by a multitude of viewers over the next few months as they grow to become juveniles and leave the nest. As with anything in Nature, this pair has had it’s ups and downs. I wanted to summarize the history of this pair and nest. The male is a NJ banded bird (A/59) and has been in the pair from the beginning, he is 23 years old. Interestingly, there have been several females in the pair over the years. Thank you to Duke Farms for hosting the cam and their tech team that keeps it running smoothly when issues arise. The cam location has changed as well as the cam itself over the years and the quality of the picture has improved.

• Duke Farms eagle nest first discovered in 2004 on the Duke Farms property.
• 2005– 1 chick fledged
• 2006– 2 chicks fledged
• 2007– 1 chick fledged
• 2008– Camera is placed on tree adjacent to nest.
  • 2 chicks fledge
• 2009– 3 chicks fledged

• 2010– 2 chicks fledged
  • banded-2 females
• 2011– new unbanded female in pair
  • 3 eggs
  • chicks fledged
  • banded- 2 males

• 2012– Eagle cam not working
  • 1 chick fledged
  • In fall of 2012 The top of the nest tree was ripped off during Sandy and the nest destroyed.
  • The cam tree and camera survived
  • pair built a new nest in December 2012 with a limited view from cam
• 2013– 2 chicks fledged
  • red tailed hawk attacked eagle in nest and the eagle killed the hawk
  • _https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s8anVG-o_I

• In the fall of 2013 the cam was moved to the nest tree.
• 2014 -banded-2 males, 1 female
  • 3 chicks fledged

• 2015– 2 chicks fledged

2016– banded, 2 females

2 chicks fledged

• 2017– did not lay eggs
• 2018– 2 eggs laid
  • 1st egg broke under incubating adult
  • 2nd egg -hatchling died during the hatching process.
• 2019– banded 1male, 1 female
  • Male “Duke” outfitted with transmitter. NJ Bald Eagle Trax
    • 2 chicks fledged

• 2020– 2 chicks fledged

• 2021– 3 eggs laid
  • 2 eggs hatched
  • 2 chicks fledged

• 2022– 2 chicks hatched
  • youngest chick dies
  • oldest chick banded, male and fledges

• Duke Farms Eagle Cam
• NJ Bald Eagle Project
• Blog: An eagle and a biologist: 22 years in common

• Donate to the Eagle Project