Part 1: Which way to the beach?
Brrr! When it gets cold outside, people bundle up in big coats and often stay inside their warm, cozy houses... But I've often wondered: How do animals survive the long, cold winter?Over a cup of hot chocolate, Henrietta helped me discover one of the things animals can do to survive winter.
Migration
Do your grandparents go to Florida when the weather gets cold? Many different types of animals do the same thing, and "migrate" (travel) somewhere warmer in winter.
Some birds migrate - either in flocks (groups) or alone. Birds can travel great distances, for example, every fall, the Arctic Tern travels all the way to the Antarctic, and every spring, it travels back up to the Arctic again!
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| Arctic Terns preparing to go south for the winter |
How do birds know when to leave and where to go? A combination of changes in the weather, the amount of daylight and the food available helps the birds decide when to leave. Birds amazingly find their way using the sun, moon, stars and even smell to guide them. They also seem to have a "compass" in their brain that allows them use the Earth's magnetic field.
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| Modern goose migration |
Some insects migrate too - Monarch butterflies spend summer in Canada and the Northern US, and in winter, they go to Mexico. (Even though they don't need to, many people in Canada do the same thing!)
Other insects, such as termites and ants, migrate short distances by moving deeper into their underground colonies to escape the frosty world above.
Some fish do the same thing, and move to deeper water in winter. Other fish may swim south.
Finally, a few mammals (such as elk, caribou and bats) migrate in winter to search for food.
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| Caribou deciding it's time to migrate for the winter |
Not all animals migrate, so stay tuned for more frosty animal facts! I think I need another sweater...
