Philopatric

Philopatry is the tendency of an organism to stay in or habitually return to a particular area. The causes of philopatry are numerous, but natal philopatry, where animals return to their birthplace to breed, may be the most common form. The term "philopatry" derives from the Greek 'home-loving', although in recent years the term has been applied to more than just the animal's birthplace. Recent usage refers to animals returning to the same area to breed despite not being born there, and migratory species that demonstrate site fidelity: reusing stopovers, staging points, and wintering grounds.

One type of philopatry is breeding philopatry, or breeding-site fidelity, and involves an individual, pair, or colony returning to the same location to breed, year after year. Among animals that are largely sedentary, breeding-site philopatry is common. It is advantageous to reuse a breeding site, as there may be territorial competition outside of the individual’s home range, and since the area evidently meets the requirements of breeding. Such advantages are compounded among species that invest heavily in the construction of a nest or associated courtship area. For example, the megapodes (large, ground-dwelling birds such as the Australian malleefowl, Leipoa ocellata) construct a large mound of vegetation and soil or sand to lay their eggs in. Megapodes often reuse the same mound for many years, only abandoning it when it is damaged beyond repair, or due to disturbance. Nest fidelity is highly beneficial as reproducing is time and energy consuming (malleefowl will tend a mound for five to six months per year). In colonial seabirds, it has been shown that nest fidelity depends on multi-scale information, including the breeding success of the focal breeding pair, the average breeding success of the rest of the colony, and the interaction of these two scales.

Breeding fidelity is also well documented among species that migrate or disperse after reaching maturity. Birds, in particular, that disperse as fledglings will take advantage of exceptional navigational skills to return to a previous site. Philopatric individuals exhibit learning behaviour, and do not return to a location in following years if a breeding attempt is unsuccessful. The evolutionary benefits of such learning are evident: individuals that risk searching for a better site will not have lower fitness than those that persist with a poor site. Philopatry is not homogenous within a species, with individuals far more likely to exhibit philopatry if the breeding habitat is isolated. Similarly, non-migratory populations are more likely to be philopatric that those that migrate.

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