Tragic Ending To Bald Eagle Eggs At Duke Farms

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — A tragic end has come to the two bald eagle eggs laid at Duke Farms in Hillsborough. Both eggs failed to hatch.

"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," according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Department of Fish & Wildlife.

The first egg was laid on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14 and the second was laid that following weekend. Hatching for the first egg was expected to begin between March 21 to 22 and the second egg on March 24 to 25.

The first was reported empty on March 23 and on March 24 the second egg reportedly contained an underdeveloped chick, according to Duke Farms.

A sub-adult male nest intruder was also reported on March 24 and thought to maybe be linked to the failures.

Taking a closer looks at the failure of the hatching, state biologists with the NJDEP evaluated the live video of the nest.

"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," according to the NJDEP.

On March 24, the remaining egg reportedly appeared to have multiple cracks and some indentation, which did not look like normal hatching progress. Later that night, a camera close-up showed a near-hatchling still in the egg but not moving. Experts believe 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," NJ DEP said. "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."

(Image and video via Duke Farms)

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