learning process whereby a newly hatched eaglet follows and responds to the movements and sounds of its parents as it depends on them for food, warmth, and protection, and learns to mimic and identify with them and, by extension, with their species; imprinting on the parents occurs within the first couple of weeks after hatch; imprinting on humans can occur if a bird spends its earliest days in contact with humans in the absence of its parents, which can interfere with critical behavioral development; habitat imprinting begins to develop as the eaglet is able to observe its surroundings, later leading to a return to its natal territory after fledging