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These recovery behaviors are activated whenever the move_base node decides that the robot is stuck. It is a good exercise to read the code for this, as any documentation (like this answer) can get outdated.

In this case you need to check the file: navigation/move_base/src/move_base.cpp E.g. here: http://mirror.umd.edu/roswiki/doc/unstable/api/move_base/html/move__base_8cpp_source.html

In there, search for any line like this: state_ = CLEARING;

You will see that move_base will invoke these behaviors on three conditions: An oscillation was discovered, no global plan was received for some amount of time, or the local planner failed to find a valid velocity command for some amount of time.