Welcome to the Duke Farms Eagle Cam

The Duke Farms Eagle Cam provided a live video stream of a Bald Eagle nest from March through August 2009. The Eagle Cam allowed researchers and the general public to view the activities of a pair of Bald Eagles that successfully raised three chicks this nesting season.

Please click on the link below to view a five-minute video of the banding of the 5-6 week old chicks in May by the State of New Jersey.

If the young eagles are spotted in the future, a notice will be posted on this page.

February 2010 Update: The pair of adult Bald Eagles has been seen at the nest, repairing damage from fall and winter storms. We, too, are making repairs to some of our equipment and hope to once again offer live-stream video of the Bald Eagles this nesting season. Please check back for updates.

PLEASE NOTE: 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.

The mission of Duke Farms is to serve as a model of environmental stewardship. This Eagle Cam was installed to provide researchers with an opportunity to monitor a pair of nesting Bald Eagles without any disturbance to the birds. It is being shared with the public to provide viewers with a glimpse of wildlife in its natural environment.

This Eagle Cam was made possible thanks to a collaboration with the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, a non-profit organization dedicated to New Jersey's rare wildlife and providing place-based wildlife education, a requirement of the New Jersey Wildlife Action Plan. The Foundation carries out research projects, develops management plans, encourages conservation practices and educates residents of New Jersey about the wildlife living on their doorstep.

Bald Eagles have been making a comeback after many years of decline, due in part to the once widespread use of Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT) and other agricultural pesticides. Thanks to growing public concern about the health of our environment, DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides were banned in the U.S. in 1972. Along with protection offered by the Endangered Species Act, scientists credit the ban on DDT as a major factor in the comeback of the Bald Eagle, Osprey and other bird species in the contiguous U.S.

In New Jersey, that comeback has been dramatic. In 1985, only a single pair of nesting Bald Eagles were recorded in New Jersey. In 2008, that number was up to 69 pairs. Of those, 50 nests produced 85 young. A Midwinter Eagle Survey in January 2008 tallied 264 birds, a new record high. Today, the Bald Eagle continues to face hazards in the environment, but perhaps the largest threat to the species in New Jersey today is the encroachment of development and human activity that limits the areas of potential nesting sites.

About the Bald Eagle

Size: 71-96 cm (28-38 inches)
Wingspan: 204 cm (80 inches, almost 7 feet)
Weight: 10 to 14 lbs.
Lifespan: Average of 15 to 20 years

The national emblem of the United States, the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is a large raptor, or bird of prey, with long, broad wings that are held flat when soaring. Adults have a brown body with a white head and tail, immature Bald Eagles have a dark head and tail – it takes about 5 years for them to acquire their white feathers.

Bald eagles mate for life, but when one dies, the survivor will not hesitate to accept a new mate. During breeding season, both birds protect the nest territory from other eagles and predators.

Eagles lay from one to three eggs that are an off-white or buff color and speckled, about the size of a goose egg. The eggs are incubated for 35 days. Incubation duties are shared by both the male and female, though it is the female who spends most of the time on the nest to both keep the eggs warm and protect them from potential predators.

When ready to hatch, eaglets break through the shell by using their egg tooth, a pointed bump on the top of the beak. It can take from 12 to 48 hours for an eaglet to hatch after making their first break in the shell.

Newly-hatched eaglets are covered in a grayish-white down and their eyes are partially closed eyes. Parents feed their young by shredding pieces of meat from their prey with their beaks. Eagles typically raise one eaglet, though sometimes two chicks will survive. Fratricide among eaglets is not uncommon.

Eaglets grow rapidly, adding a full pound of body weight every four or five days. At two weeks of age, an eaglet is able to hold its head up for feeding, and by three weeks it is approximately 12-inches tall with a beak and feet that are nearly the size of an adult. Four weeks after hatching, the bird is able to stand and can begin tearing up its own food. By six weeks, the eaglet is nearly the size of its parents.

After fledging, or leaving the nest, at about 11 or 12 weeks of age, young eagles stay close by for six to nine weeks as they practice their ability to fly and to hunt. Young eagles that remain near the nest often are still fed by their parents. Eagles are born with the instinct to hunt, but must practice their skills before they become expert birds of prey.

From the time the parents build the nest until the time that their offspring are on their own takes about 20 weeks. During the nesting cycle, the parents remain within one to two miles of the nest.

Once listed as a Federally Endangered Species, the Bald Eagle remains protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

Our Eagle Cam video stream is hosted by Ustream.tv, Inc., which provides content streaming and social networking services for the sharing of live content and video chat on the Internet and via mobile devices. The advertisements that appear are administered and maintained by Ustream.tv. Duke Farms does not make any representations regarding the content or accuracy of these advertisements and does not endorse any product or service advertised.

Links to more information on Bald Eagles

• Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, All About Birds: Bald Eagle
• New Jersey Bald Eagle Project, Dec. 2008, NJDEP (PDF, 362KB)

Volunteer Opportunities
If you are a bird watcher and have some free time, Duke Farms has a variety of volunteer opportunities.
- Nest box monitoring
- Avian Migration Project
- Breeding Bird Survey
- Project FeederWatch
Click here for more information on volunteering at Duke Farms.