Eagle Cam
In 2008, Duke Farms installed a webcam on a tree adjacent to a Bald Eagle nest to provide a live look at the daily lives of the eagles. In partnership with The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, lesson plans were created to facilitate place-based educational opportunities for students. Between the general public and classrooms up and down the east coast, the Duke Farms Eagle Cam has many fans – over 10 million viewers and growing!
It is important to remember that although we have access to witness their behaviors, the eagles are still wild animals. If you find the nesting behaviors of the eagle chicks bothersome or disturbing, do not watch the Eagle Cam.
April Update:
The nest will be visited on April 11, 2022, by Fish & Wildlife ENSP biologists who will band, measure, and take blood samples from the young bird. The camera live stream will be turned off during the banding.
March Update:
Unfortunately, the second chick doesn’t look like it's doing well and didn’t get any food yesterday. It appears he has health problems that we cannot know about. Usually, a smaller chick will do fine as long as there's plenty of food like there is in this nest. So, we suspect there is an underlying problem the chick was born with. It is difficult to watch and while we still hold out a small hope that this little one rallies, the reality doesn’t look good. We can be glad that this pair still has one healthy chick. This type of situation goes on in eagles’ nests all over the state, we just don’t witness it up close and we will not intervene.
Bald eagles are a state endangered species and the jurisdiction falls under the State of NJ, not private landowners like Duke Farms.
While we are supportive advocates of wildlife conservation, we leave the management decisions to the State.
The eagle’s comeback in NJ from a single nesting pair in 1980 to more than 200 pairs today is a success story and a tribute to habitat and conservation work by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. Watching nature on a camera is a raw experience but shows the full and often hard circle of life in nature. While seeing a non-flourishing chick is hard for us as viewers, it is important to understand that overall, the species population is rising. Intervening in a nest situation has the potential to do more harm than good because it would disturb the adults, disrupt normal behaviors, and could risk the health and safety of this eagle family. As such, the State will not intervene with what are deemed natural solutions in the nest.
We appreciate everyone’s concern and understanding. Thank you.
-Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, NJ DEP Endangered & Nongame Species Program, Duke Farms
2022 Season
Egg 1 laid: January 17, 2022
Egg 2 laid: January 20, 2022
Egg 1 hatched: February 24, 2022
Egg 2 hatched: February 28, 2022
Eagle Kits for the Classroom
We've compiled all of our eagle-themed lessons, several storybooks and field guides, life-sized replicas of an eagle egg, skull, talon, a life-sized wingspan cutout, vinyl eagle photo, and even an eagle costume! Eagle Kits are free for educators to borrow for up to three weeks at a time.
Click here to learn more about Eagle Kits and reservations.
Check out our Virtual Eagle Kit for Distance Learning lessons.
The Duke Farms Bald Eagles Book by Jim Wright
Have you seen Duke Farms' Bald Eagle free online e-book yet? If not, what are you waiting for? You can view it on any electronic device with Internet access.
(The e-book was done with the help of the good folks at Conserve Wildlife Foundation.)