Why can imprinting be dangerous?

• A. Alters feather color
• B. Increases appetite
• C. Bird becoming louder
• D. Can create aggression and abnormal behavior

Answer: (D)

Imprinting is a rapid learning phase during a sensitive period when a young bird forms a lasting social bond with what it first encounters. If that bond forms with a human, the bird can treat people as a parent or mate and may not respond to normal wild cues, leading to abnormal and unsafe behavior. This can manifest as aggression toward handlers or other birds and persistent, maladaptive actions that make the bird dangerous to manage or release. Because of these potential outcomes, imprinting on humans is considered dangerous, and falconry practice aims to have the bird imprint on appropriate surrogates rather than people.