As I sit and watch the interaction between E7 ,E8 ,M15 and Harriet I can't help but wonder what are we seeing? Is it imprinting, instinct or learned behavior. The Eaglets will be imprinting on the Parents and their every move. We already see them watching every move they make. When one flies up to a branch , leaves or enter the nest all eyes are on them. When they move about the nest aerating or moving the food ,all eyes are on them. When the E's get taller and start looking around the nest area, they are imprinting.
Today 2/7/16.... We had another intruder alarm by both Parents. Harriet flew up high as she came in from the OCT and M15 went to the attic branch. What did the kids do? They flatten out,hunkered down. This is Instinct. I'm sure you all have seen this before not just here at this nest but other nest you may watch. Then we had bave E7 sit up to look around at what all the fuss was about while E8 stayed down.
Yesterday 2/6/16...I posted a video showing briefly E7 imitating Harriet as she moved some nesting material around . E7 watched then did the same thing. Learned Behavior.
Can we always see the difference between instinct,imprinting and learned behavior? Some of it will be so close that it could be one or the other or a combination . I posted some links below just to give you an idea of what each one is. I hope you take the time to read them ,then see if you can pick out which one or combination you see when watching the Eaglets, M15 and Harriet .
This much I will say again... After watching M15 all summer long and thru this much of nesting season, M15 was not "Taught" by Harriet at all. The instinct were always there. M15 always knew how to fish ,scavenge for food and could catch prey . Nest building was there but this was perfected by watching Harriet get branches. What need did M15 have for branches as he was growing up?? None. I watched as M15's technique at grabbing the branches and moss on the fly get better and better with time.His bonding was not good at all. He knew instinct was driving him but his approach and mounting Harriet sure needed a lot of improvement. From the first few times of humping the branch to actually getting on top of Harriet was very interesting to watch if not downright funny. But M15 and M15 alone figured out how to do this. Feeding the E's the first time. M15 knew he had to get the food to them but what was the best and most efficient way of doing it. After trial and error , M15 succeed in getting the food to a moving object .
These are just some of my observations . I hope you'll read then watch with a little bit of a different outlook than just for entertainment... or not . This is just fascinating to me and I hope it will be to you also.
So we have so many more months to go and to watch all of what Mother Nature has to offer.
We'll all learn together as the Eaglets continue on in their daily growth and watch to see as instincts ,imprinting and learned behavior all come into play.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instinct
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imprinting_(psychology)
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/behavior/learning-slug/v/operant-conditioning-innate-vs-learned-behaviors
http://study.com/academy/lesson/animal-behavior-innate-vs-learned.html
http://blogs.bu.edu/bioaerial2012/2012/10/09/nature-vs-nurture-how-do-baby-birds-learn-how-to-fly/
My videos made from the SWFL Eagle Cam are here at this link:::
https://www.facebook.com/deeagle55/videos
Love this! More learning for us watchers, too!
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