Nature Done Wright

Sorry to report that the Duke Farms Bald Eagle nest failed this year. 

Here's are reports from Monday and yesterday:

UPDATE 3/26: Failed nest this year. The first egg was empty (3/23) and the second egg contained an underdeveloped chick (3/24). Also, what appeared to be a sub-adult male nest intruder on 3/24.

UPDATE 3/27: Hopefully this answers your burning questions.

This is from state biologists wth the NJDEP Fish & Wildlife ENSP:

"The nest had two eggs that were incubated since February 14 and hatching would be expected to start on March 21-22.

On March 23, one egg broke under the incubating adult. The lack of consolidated contents suggested it was infertile, and we suspect that the egg became less resilient through the course of incubation, resulting in its collapse. The remaining egg could have been the second laid, so hatching would be expected on March 24-25.

On March 24th in the afternoon, the egg appeared to have multiple cracks and some indentation, which did not look like normal hatching progress. By 7:30 pm, a camera close-up showed a near-hatchling still in the egg but not moving. It appeared that the hatchling had died during the course of the hatching process.

We can't know exactly why this happened. The camera allows us to see so much that goes on in the nest, but we didn't have a full view of the hatching egg, nor could we know for sure if the egg was damaged by an adult bird.

The adults are always extremely careful to protect their eggs, so we don't think that happened. But failure to hatch does happen in eagles and other raptors on occasion.

Hatching can take 12 to 24 hours, and if the embryo does not have enough resources, it won't make it. If, in fact, the eggshell was damaged in some way, the hatchling may not have been prepared for the exposure.

It is a sad and premature end to this pair's nesting season.

One of the characteristics that bald eagles share with many species on the Endangered Species List is that they raise only one brood each year, and they put all their resources into that one chance each spring.

There are many things that can go wrong, including severe weather, predators, and competition from other eagles. The Duke Farms pair has done well for many years, but even their success is not guaranteed every year."

Duke Farms' Eagle Cam is on YouTube here.