January 19th, 2025

Good news, the Duke Farms pair is incubating. Incubation was confirmed January 18th.

The nest monitor for Duke Farms is Diane Cook and in past years she’s been able to keep track of the nest by watching the eagle cam. Due to the cam being down, Diane has been in monitoring the nest in the field from a safe distance so she doesn’t disturb the pair.

Diane’s notes from the field January 18th:

The Duke Farms live cam is down, and being repaired. Today’s nest check was done from a distance, using a vehicle as a blind. Absolutely nothing was seen at arrival to the site. Then, 30 minutes later, a head popped up slightly. A large bird flew past the nest. The eagle in the nest sat up a bit to watch. Sure enough, another adult eagle sat perched on a snag not too far away, looking in the direction of the nest. About an hour into the observation, the nest eagle flew towards the snag and the other eagle. The perched eagle left and landed in the nest, and sat low. Incubation exchange? Twenty minutes later, the eagle off the nest flew in with a new stick, placed it, and left. Nest eagle goes down low, and within minutes the other is back with another stick. Stick eagle left once more, and nest eagle sat down low. Before disappearing into the nest, the top of its body was seen for a couple minutes. Fluffing nest material? Rolling an egg? A live cam view would let a viewer know for sure. If this behavior continues in the days to come, incubation is assured. Before leaving, the nest was checked a final time. The eagle in the nest remained low and out of sight. The other eagle was gone, and all was quiet. 

Diane returned to the nest today the 19th and spent time monitoring the nest. She saw two nest exchanges and one of the adults down low in the nest the entire visit.

This date is right in line with past incubation start dates with the current female.

The current female is the third female to occupy the nest, she arrived January of 2020.

2020- 1/20

2021 – 1/17

2022 – 1/17

2023 – 1/20

2024 – 1/22 (first year with the new male)

The Duke Farms cam should be up and running soon, so we’ll know how many eggs have been laid.

January 14th

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 Sands 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?
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. In December 2024 a new livestream camera with audio was installed.

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

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, in 2020 and 2023 they began incubation on January 20, and in 2024 incubation began on January 22.

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.

How many young have been raised in this nest?
A total of 34 eagle chicks have been raised and fledged from this nest since 2005.
2005 – 1
2006 – 2
2007 – 1 male; banded
2008 – 2
2009 – 3 males; banded
2010 – 2 females; banded
2011 – 2 males; banded
2012 – 1
2013 – 2
2014 – 3 (2 males, 1 female) banded
2015 – 2
2016 – 2 females, banded
2017 – didn’t incubate
2018 – failed, 2 eggs
2019 – 2 (1 male, 1 female) banded
2020 – 2
2021 – 2
2022 – 1 male, banded
2023 – 2
2024 – 2 males, 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 2024 there were 293 nesting eagle pairs monitored in New Jersey. Two hundred sixty-four of these were active (laid eggs) and 182 were successful in producing 288 young.