Young Bald Eagle Takes First Flight At Duke Farms

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Congrats to our local bird celebrity, as the young bald eagle at Duke Farms has taken his first flight. (Video below)

The bald eagle who hatched in late February in Hillsborough took his first flight around 6:43:35 a.m. Wednesday.

"We would say 'the eagle has landed', but he's kinda doing the opposite right now. Congrats on the fledge, not-so-little one!" tweeted Duke Farms.

The young eagle hatched on Feb. 24 and was banded in April. The eaglet is the only remaining chick at the nest after one died in March. It was suspected that there was an underlying problem the chick was born with, according to Duke Farms. Read More: 1 Bald Eagle Chick Dies, Remaining Chick Thrives At Duke Farms

The same eaglet was seen on Dukes Farms' 24/7 live camera preparing to fly last week.

This behavior "is called branching and the very short flights around the nest are practice for the real thing," said Thom Almendinger, director of natural resources & agroecology at Duke Farms. Read More: Young Bald Eagle Is Getting Ready To Fly At Duke Farms

Duke Farms has a live 24-hour eagle cam set up about the nest to allow bird enthusiasts to catch a glimpse of the eagle parents and new chicks as they grew up at dukefarms.org/eaglecam.

Watch the young bald eagle's first flight below (around 4:15:39):

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