Originally Posted by
PeteJ
You'll find that life with the imprint is much more casual in some ways, but infinitely more complex in other ways. The imprint comes with many facets that are more distinctive than with chamber raised or passage birds. The most obvious facet is that of tameness. The level of this is quite striking in some birds, particularly with the accipiters. But tameness doesn't go quite far enough to explain the depth of comfort, how at ease they are with just the day to day handling. It has almost nothing to do with weight either, they are just that at ease, that 'natural' in this captive environment they have been raised in.
As the person that has raised it, you know basically the complete history of that bird, from when it stood up, to when it first gained lift with its wings, to when it makes it first attempts to kill prey items (and the not so much prey items that usually are their first focus). You see them learn about things to be wary of, such as those large, slow flying, Tarantula Hawk wasps that have a loud slow obvious flight with contrasting colors of black and orange (Warning...Danger Will Robinson), yet the young bird cannot stop its curiosity and follows through only to find the barb of the stinger, the searing pain, the swelling. How many does it take for you bird to learn from such incidents? Sometimes not more than once.
When the bird ages, and sexual maturity comes on, a whole new subset of behaviors are introduced that cannot usually be denied with much success. Its part of the deal, you have to understand your role and deal with it. But once you do, you will have encouraged a bond that is almost unbreakable and often times hard for another to overcome. You will always be their first true infatuation, and they will recognize you in minutes after years of absence.
On the good side, you will have their 'affection' which is interesting in itself. But, you can also draw their ire and aggressive side, which, due to the level of comfort, can result in some serious tantrums or dominance issues. You can run the entire gamut of their emotional side. You must always be aware that taking and raising an imprint means you are in a relationship, a serious in depth relationship.
It is that last reference that really hits home when you have an imprint that you have nurtured and raised, perhaps for many years, but not always as the years have little to do with how you will feel, when there is a tragic death or illness. I believe that as falconers we do have to deal with loss and death, its part of this lifestyle. But, in many cases, I have seen grown men and women brought to tears and grieving to their core after the passing of a beloved imprint. I also believe that while you can grow attached to a passage bird or chamber raised eyas, the level of attachment to these is not the same. Its not that they aren't better birds or something like that, its just that the level of commitment and attachment is....shallower I guess. They are more like acquaintances, rather than like the relationship with a child you have raised, a family member or lifelong friend, which the imprint has more of that feel to them. I'm just saying, prepare yourself for that, it can and will be brutal.
The sense of accomplishment you get from dealing with imprints though is quite rewarding. When you hatch out the first egg that you inseminated via artificial insemination, when you watch that bird grow and become a successful hunter, and all because of your relationship with its mother which you helped to shape into the bird she has become....its really something. I truly believe that it is only with the imprint that you truly understand what their lives are like, to the best of our ability anyway. With them what you see is what you get. They have no facade that you can see in birds that were raised in other ways. That also means that you can learn a lot about the mastery of manipulation, how decisively devious they actually may have to be to be a successful predator. You will learn to applaud their efforts even if you may cut them off at the pass so their efforts to manipulate you are effectively squashed. You will gain valuable insight that can help you with whatever style of raising you do in the future. For many, they absolutely refuse and should not have imprints for various reasons. But for those that can and do understand them, they have almost no choice but to continue to hone their skills with the imprint because anything else just won't do.
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. Again, very vocal and loud (umm the breeder does not do imprints unless of breeding only). As several can attest: I had the older brother for one day (18 days old) and told all my user group - he was going to be the noisiest imprint I have ever head. He lived up to billing. Hard wired. 
