1. Migration

2. Migration
Animals that move from one place and then to another each year are migrating.

3. Migration Some animals migrate to mate and have babies.
Many animals go back to the same place they were born to have their babies.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Hummingbirds
It flies without stopping for 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico and into Mexico and Central America every winter.
The flight takes hours.
The tiny birds are exhausted and hungry when they arrive at their winter homes.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. Gray Whale
Adult gray whales can weigh up to 45 tons and can grow as long as 50 feet!
Baby whales can gain pounds per day!

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. Big Horn Sheep
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.

20. Monarch Butterfly
The monarch butterfly is an insect that migrates from Canada through the United States and into Mexico.

21. Resources Animals that Migrate by Carmen Bredeson
Groiler Publishing Copyright 2001
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