The likelihood of spotting a bald eagle in New Jersey keeps getting better. That’s because, according to the 2022 New Jersey Bald Eagle Project report, there has been a more than two-fold increase in the population over the 10-year period beginning in 2013.
“We documented an increasing population for many years now, but in 2022 we reached 250 active nesting pairs. So that’s a new high. We also documented those pairs producing 335 offspring, also a record high,” said Kathy Clark, supervising zoologist, with the Endangered and Nongame Species Program in the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.
The first bald eagles of 2023 arrived at Duke Farms in Hillsborough. Thom Almendinger, director of Natural Resources and Agroecology at Duke Farms, said two eggs were hatched on Jan. 20 and 23.
