Migratory instinct (zoology)
As migratory instinct in animals is called an innate instinctive behavior that causes the animals to their territory and their home range to leave for seasonal or due to environmental changes and seek another area. The pronounced migratory instinct of some species can be interpreted as the physiological basis of animal migration .
The migratory instinct is a “catchy” term that was mainly used by the proponents of the “ physiological theory of instinctive movement ” to explain the observable, complex behavior in connection with animal migrations. The specific triggers and internal (physiological) changes in condition, i.e. the actual causes that ultimately lead to the willingness to act and the consequence of a change of location, are mostly unknown to this day. What is certain is that the behavior described by the observer as the migratory instinct can be triggered, for example, by a lack of food. Other unfavorable living conditions that lead to a change of location can be seen in the lack of suitable places to lay eggs or to raise the young.
The best-known animal migrations that can be traced back to a migratory instinct are the migration of birds , the migration of some toad species and the migration of the lemmings . Other known instinctual animal migrations are that of the pigeon , reindeer , bison , seal , herrings , mackerel , and eel . In insects, one can observe the urge to migrate and a. in locusts , dragonflies and painted ladies .