*Imprinting of bobwhite quail to a hawk.* 1967. Melvin, K.B.,
F.T. Cloar, and L.S. Massingill. _The Psychological Record_ vol.
17: 235-238.

I happened across this amusing article about purposefully training
bobwhites to imprint on a kestrel, and it reminded me of many
questions I have had about imprinting in birds. Effects seem to vary
extremely from one individual to the next. Some rehabilitators feel
that hand-raised great horned owls are some of the most dangerous
animals on earth and should not be released. I am generally
inclined to agree having met one owl that should not be messed
with. One owl bander in Mass. told me of more than three Great
Horneds he had hand-released and been able to check up on; none were
dangerous. Conversely, a bird he banded as a chick in the wild which
was reared by its parents, five years later was attacking bypassers
on the Boston Common near its nest.

I would like to hear thoughts, observations, etc. on what points at
which imprinting has what sorts of effects on behavior later in life -
especially after release into the wild.

Following is an amusing (but tangential) excerpt from the above
article. The kestrel was tethered to a perch which rotated above a
circular track and the young quail were allowed to walk or run
in the track and follow the kestrel or run away (7 out of 18
imprinted):

The last imprinted bird provided an interesting and serendipitous
demonstration. The experimenter had forgotten to feed the hawk,
which sought to remedy this oversight. After about five minutes of
following (first session), Subject [the bobwhite, S hereafter] ran
past the perch and then stopped. Our "imprinting object" bent over
and picked up S by the feathers, causing the experimenter to
intervene. At this intrusin the hawk flew upwards about one in.,
casting S out onto the floor. "Shaken" but unhurt, S was inserted
into the apparatus after a 2 min. rest. The quail resumed following
and showed very strong imprinting during sessions 2 and 3. This
observation seems relevant to the finding that punishment may
strengthen imprinting.
=====================================

From: Mark Crotteau <CROTTEAU at WSUVM1.bitnet>

In response to the posting about the behavior of hand-raised Great Horned
Owls, I don't think that imprinting is involved here. If I recollect what
I learned in graduate school correctly, imprinting is mainly a phenomenon
of species having precocial young, that is, young that are able to move
about and forage on their own from the time they are hatched, and for whom
being able to immediately recognize and instantly bond with the parent is
therefore vital for survival. I don't believe an owl would imprint on its
"parent," be it the natural one or a human surrogate. An owl raised in
captivity would certainly become accustomed to being around people though,
and that could lead to its being very bold in its behavior toward people.

Mark Crotteau
Pullman, WA
===================================

From: "John Schladweiler (PALSSJX at Mankato.msus.edu)"

Mark Cotteau wrote that he did not believe an owl would imprint on its "parent".
Many species of raptors will imprint on humans. This is how many of the b
raptor breeding facilities are able to effectivly do artificial insemination.
They obtain the semen while the bird tries to "copulate" (the bird thinks so any
way) with its imprinted human mate.

These imprinted birds will "attack" other humans in an attempt to drive off
the intruding suitor.
=============================

From: Jacquelyn Owens <jeo2 at U.WASHINGTON.EDU>

Sorry to continue this thread if people have lost interest but I have
heard that some owls imprint. My sister is a raptor rehabilitator in CO.
She has mentioned cases where both Burrowing Owls and Barn Owls have been
"imprinted". She said this is quite a problem with Barn Owls because they
frequently live near humans. I know that when the center she works at
gets young owls in they take great care in feeding them to insure they do
not imprint. I believe they also do this with other raptors, but I'm not
sure. Are they any raptor rehab people out there who know more details on
imprinting?

Jackie Owens
Seattle, WA
jeo2 at u.washington.edu
===============================

From: Paul Wedeking <WEDEKING at BMS.COM>

Several years ago, Len Soucy, founder of the Raptor Trust in NJ, hand raised
a barn owl from an egg given to him by a concerned citizen. He used to
bring "Lady" to a lot of his presentations and he would tell one and all that
Lady could not be released because she had imprinted to man.

paul wedeking
pennington, nj
(wedeking at bms.com)
==================================

From: Robert Evans <evans at ICD.TERADYNE.COM>

Raising a wild bird into captivity from an egg seems to be of questionable
legality and/or morality.
===================================


From: Ned Keller <usr4225a at TSO.UC.EDU>

I'm part of a group that does raptor rehab in Cincinnati. We
used to have a pair of imprinted kestrels. The female thought she
was a human, and the male thought he was a cockatiel. When we
first got him in, he used to sleep with his head tucked under his
wing.

We still have a turkey vulture which was imprinted on humans.
Although I'm trying not to be anthropomorphic, it does not seem to
relate well to other vultures. On the occasions that we have had
to put other TV's in the same cage, it has tried to keep as much
distance from them as possible. It also seems to be bonded, in
some sense, to one particular volunteer; at least, it resists
being handled much less by that individual. I'm not sure quite
what that says about either of them. :)

We have found that by far the best way to avoid imprinting is to
allow young birds to be cared for by adults of the same species.
When we can't find a foster nest with young of the appropriate age
and number, we place the chicks with one of our permanently
injured birds. And if we don't have one of that species, we
transfer the chick to another raptor center that does.

Ned Keller
usr4225a at tso.uc.edu
Cincinnati, OH