ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the theoretical concepts and physical research evidence for individualism in eagle behavior, including intra-specific behavioral differences in adaptation to changing eagle ecologies. Intra-species differences exist in eagle survival strategies, relevant to the future for eagles in altered landscapes. These intra-species behaviors must be matched and explained as shared relations between people and animals in contexts undergoing multidirectional change. This is not an exercise in pure animal ecology, but must intertwine with urban and agricultural expansion, cultural perspectives on the relevant animals and the possible adaptive abilities of the relevant animals. Recently, some theoretical paradigms such as animal geography have treated animals as at least partially active subjects, rather than only generalized objects. Zoogeography, the generalized study of the spatial ecology of animals is crucial for eagle studies, as eagle ecology is spatialized; migration and seasonal change, regional disparities in presence and extirpation, juvenile dispersal, local adaptation to deforestation and other environmental change, and spatial vagaries in foraging patterns all require spatial analyses. More subjective studies may also offer a challenging approach, including the unpredictable, subjective, individualist behavior of eagles to complement the generalized approach of zoogeography and animal ecology.
