Site Fidelity Question

[Heavy_D]

Are both male and female drawn back to the same location each year or just the male? Does site fidelity only occur if they successfully mate and raise their young there?

This is my second year and have had more visitors than last year but despite some nest building activity from an SY pair and an some serious visiting by an ASY pair over the last week and a half none of them have stayed.

In both cases the males liked the site seemingly more than the females. Short of some birds finding the site this year I'll have to hope for better luck next year. Can I expect the males to return next year or are they potentially drawn back to wherever they've gone to?

[flyin-lowe]

ASY male and females will return to the same site each year assuming there are no isssues with predators etc. They don't choose the same mate each year but it is possible they may have the same mate more then once if they return several years in a row. Banding studies show that a pretty large percentage of SY's go someplace other then the location that they fledged from, possibly to avoid inbreeding. It's not unheard of though for an SY to return to they site they fledged from though. Assuming there are no issues with housing deteriorating or predators it would be unusual for ASY pair to not return to the same place each year.

[RJM]

My experience is you need them to nest and fledge young to have them come back year after year.