Migration
Migration• Animals that move from one place and
then to another each year are migrating.
Migration• Some animals migrate to mate
and have babies.
• Many animals go back to the same place they were born to have their babies.
Migration• Some animals migrate to warmer
climates during the winter.• It usually isn’t the cold weather that
forces them to migrate. They have feathers or fur to keep them warm.
• It is the lack of food. Plants do not grow well in cold weather and many insects die when the weather gets cold.
Migration• How do they find their way when they are
so many miles away from home?• Scientists are not sure. They are studying
many migrating animals to find out. • Some scientists believe that the animals
follow their instincts.• Some believe they follow the sun or the
Earth’s magnetic field.
Hummingbirds• The ruby-throated
hummingbird weighs only one-eighth of an ounce. (Take a slice of bread and tear it into 8 pieces. The hummingbird weighs as much as one of those pieces.
• It’s wings beat more than 50 times each second while flying.
Hummingbirds• It flies without stopping
for 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico and into Mexico and Central America every winter.
• The flight takes 18-20 hours.
• The tiny birds are exhausted and hungry when they arrive at their winter homes.
Hummingbirds• The hummingbirds look for bright red
flowers.
• Their long pointed beaks can poke deep into flowers.
• The fuzzy tips on their tongues are great for lapping up the nectar.
• The birds also eat small insects and spiders.
Hummingbirds• After spending the winter in Mexico, the
birds return to North America to lay their eggs in the spring.
• They lay two pea-sized eggs and wait for the chicks to hatch.
• The mother teaches the chicks how to find food. By winter, they will be strong enough to make the long trip to Mexico.
Wood Frogs• Wood frogs come
in many shades of brown and tan.
• They have dark masks that surround their eyes. Some people call them “robber frogs.”
• When full grown, they are about 2 inches long.
Wood Frogs• After hibernating all winter
under piles of leaves and dead tree branches, wood frogs are ready to mate.
• The males leave their homes in the woods and hop to the nearest ponds or puddles.
• At the pond they make a strange quacking call to communicate with females.
Wood Frogs• Many roads have been built through
wooded areas and have become a problem for the migration of the frogs.
• When the frogs start migrating they can cover the road. When cars run over that many of them, it makes the roads slippery.
Wood Frogs• Humans have started
building tunnels under the roads so that the frogs do not have to cross the road.
• In Germany, they have built fences along the side of the road so that the frogs will not get run over.
Gray Whale• Adult gray whales
can weigh up to 45 tons and can grow as long as 50 feet!
• Baby whales can gain 50-100 pounds per day!
Gray Whale• The gray whale migrates farther than any
other mammal each year.• When the water it is living in (off the coast of
Alaska) begins to get cold or close to freezing, the gray whale begins it’s 6,000 mile journey.
• It will take the whales about three months to reach their winter home in the warm waters near Mexico.
Gray Whale• The whale travels close to the
United States shoreline. Many people gather along the shoreline to watch them migrate.
• After reaching the warmer waters, the females give birth to their calves.
• When spring arrives the whales will begin their trip back to Alaska.
Gray Whale• Before leaving Alaska,
the whales eat extra food and store the energy as fat or blubber.
• The whales use this stored food for energy during their migration.
Big Horn Sheep• Big Horn Sheep live
in the alpine meadows, grassy mountain slopes and rocky cliffs.
• They are herbivores eating grasses, young twigs, and shoots.
• Big horn sheep spend the summer high in the mountains because they can move around quicker than the predators.
• During the winter, they
migrate to the valley
because there is less
snow and more plants
to eat.
Big Horn Sheep
Monarch Butterfly• The monarch
butterfly is an insect that migrates from Canada through the United States and into Mexico.
• http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/jr/IntroMig1.html
Resources• Animals that Migrate by Carmen Bredeson
• Groiler Publishing Copyright 2001
• Watts Library – A division of Scholastic Inc
• http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/index.html
• www.desertusa.com/big.html