NJ’s Bald Eagle Population Hits Record High

In the 1980s, there was only one bald eagle nest in New Jersey. Now in 2019, the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey reports nearly 200 nests with almost 250 young eagles!

Thanks to conservation efforts including the banning of DDT and the Clean Water Act, the number of bald eagle nests and the number of young eagles has risen steadily.

Most of the nests are in southwest Jersey, along the Delaware Bay, but nests have been spotted along the shore, up to the Highlands and Palisades.

The APP has a chart of the number of nests and young eagles from the past 37 years:

Nests            Number of young

1982:     1                    1

1985:     1                    2

1990:     4                    5

1995:     11                 19

2000:     23                 30 

2005:     48                 64

2010:     82                 69

2015:     150              199

2019:     189              248

A couple months ago I was visiting my mom in Brick and spotted a bald eagle flying in the distance, and it was an awesome sight. I'd seen them at zoos before, but I couldn't remember seeing one in nature before that point.