Tests for mate and nest fidelity in birds with application to little blue penguins (Eudyptula minor)

In a study of little blue penguins (Eudyptula minor) in Wellington Harbour, we wished to test for mate and nest site fidelity. Previous penguin work had only given descriptive statistics such as percentages. Given that each little blue penguin returns to a very small area for breeding, its choice of mate and nest site is extremely limited. A test of randomness of mating and nest site selection was therefore required in the context of this very restricted choice. This paper provides such a test for randomness versus mate or nest site fidelity, based on the rencontre probability problem. It combines information from several sites and requires data over at least two successive seasons. For this study, the test was powerful enough to detect nonrandomness of mate and nest site selection with a very small amount of data.