What is the ability of an animal to navigate towards an original location through unfamiliar areas called?

Homing is the inherent ability of an animal to navigate towards an original location through unfamiliar areas. This location may be either a home territory, or a breeding spot. Homing abilities can be used to find the way back to home in a migration. It is often used in reference to going back to a breeding spot seen years before, as in the case of salmon. Homing abilities can also be used to go back to familiar territory when displaced over long distances, such as with the red-bellied newt.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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17 Comments

Richard G Schwartz

As a child our family owned a Beagle named Fritz. When we moved across town he managed to get back to where we used to live several times. .

j collins

Not everyone knows this, but there's a tiny Red Bellied Newt inside every car Sat Nav. 😂

Lisa G

Turtles, if moved, will continually try to find their way home, sometimes getting killed on their journey. Please put them back where you got them.

Aleta Edin

I once had a Tom cat that I didn’t want. Some kids who lived on a farm several miles from me wanted that cat. In spite of taking him to their farm by a long circuitous route he kept coming back. He ended up staying here.