Animals are always on the move. But sometimes animals’ instincts lead them to take difficult, dangerous and incredible hikes in search of food, water or better weather – not as one animal, but as a group. These travels are known as migrations.
Some animal migrations occur once a year, others every day. Some animals travel thousands of miles, even covering most of our planet! Some animals make many migrations in their lives; for others, migrations are a one-way trip.
Keep reading to learn more about the largest, longest and most incredible animal migrations on planet Earth. Which one is your favorite?
# 10 Incredible Animal Migration: Long Arctic Tern Migration
A seabird or gull known as the arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) makes the longest migration among all animals – almost from the top of our planet to its base. Arctic terns can fly over 44,000 miles (71,000 km) a year, traveling from Greenland to Antarctica and back. If the tern reaches a maximum lifespan of 30 years, it will fly nearly 1.5 million miles (2.4 million km) in migratory movement.
Why does the Arctic tern make this annual trek? Their spawning grounds are in Greenland, and they spend the summer there raising young. As winter approaches in the north, small birds – weighing only about 4 ounces – then travel south to spend the northern winter during the warmer months at the bottom of the world.
# 9 Incredible Animal Migration: Caribou, Longest Land Migration
Caribou or reindeer are animals that look like deer. Their annual round-trip migration between summer and winter feeding grounds is the longest migration of land or terrestrial animals. How far do caribou travel? Some feeding sites are 400 miles (640 km) apart. The hike takes about 3 months.
Interestingly, large herds of caribou tend to travel farther than smaller herds. Another interesting aspect of this migration is that the main predators of the Caribbean animals – the gray wolves – keep pace with the predatory animals. This means that wolves are making a great migration too!
# 8 Incredible Animal Migration: Fruit Bats, Most Numerous Migration of a Single Species
Northern Zambia has a small evergreen swamp forest the size of three football pitches. Every year from October to December, this forest comes alive with more than 10 million bats.
Giant bats or flying foxes travel from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in search of mangoes and other fruits with exotic names such as mahogany berries, water berries and medlar.
However, this migration doesn’t just fill the bellies of bats. When they return home, they secrete the fruit seeds they ate in their guano. This rejuvenates the forests with new growths.
# 7 Incredible Animal Migration: Gray Whale, Longest Mammal Migration
In 2015, the eastern gray whale set a new migration record with nearly 14,000 miles. The journey began in Russia, the whale brought it to Mexico, and then returned home to the waters of Eurasia. This is more than nearly 12,000 miles of travel by the humpback whale in 2011.
# 6 Incredible Animal Migration: Salmon Is The Sportiest Migration
Migrating animals often face a variety of problems – lack of food or water, inclement weather or long distances. But salmon (Salmo salar) must overcome literal barriers to return to their homeland.
Salmon spends most of their life in the open ocean, but returns to the rivers where they were born to spawn. First, the fish must swim against the current against the current. This requires special stamina as the fish can swim up to 250 miles (400 km) upriver.
Along the way, the salmon must cross rapids and waterfalls. To overcome the waterfall, the salmon jumps out of the water. They often have to try again and again before successfully reaching the top of the waterfall. In addition, predators such as bears often wait at these jump points to grab a mouthful of this fish, as they migrate as one large group known as the “salmon race.”
# 5 Incredible Animal Migration: Humpback Whales, Fasting Migration
Until recently, the migration of humpback whales was considered the longest-running mammalian migration. While the distance of almost 10,000 miles round trip is greater than that of gray whales, the migration of humpback whales is unique for another reason – adult whales do not eat for several months.
Humpback whales feed on some of the smallest animals – huge schools of tiny shrimp called krill in the waters around Antarctica. But they swim to warmer waters to give birth and raise their young. At this time, adults do not feed, but live off fat reserves. When they return to colder waters, they gorge themselves to replenish those supplies.
# 4 Incredible animal migration: wildebeest, most famous migration
Who could forget an iconic Disney movie scene? The Lion King,
wh
en a herd of wildebeest rushes through the canyon? This event was based on the real migration of wildebeests.
These wild cow-like antelopes are involved in perhaps the largest land migration in terms of net numbers. At least 1.5 to 2 million animals get together and travel up to 1000 miles a year. Herds of zebras and other antelopes can join them as they roam the Serengeti Mara in Kenya and Tanzania in search of food and water. Little wildebeests born on the road can hit the road within minutes after birth.
# 3 Incredible animal migration: irregular migrations of flamingos
Flamingos are generally not considered migratory birds. However, African lesser flamingos rarely make amazing treks.
Heavy rains can revive the salt bath – the dry bottom of an ancient lake – along with the dormant algae that it once supported. “Caused by some unknown signal,” as documentary narrator David Attenborough once described, smaller flamingos flock to the lake thousands of miles away. These conditions occur approximately every 10 years.
Flamingos feed on algae, reproduce and lay eggs on the island. By the time the chicks hatch, the water in the house is largely dry. They need fresh water to drink, so they have to travel. Chicks, under the guidance of parents, must make a different kind of migration – overland and on foot up to 30 miles (50 km). The young man rushes along the ground in a long line on a journey that can last several days.
# 2 Incredible Animal Migration: Multiple Generation Monarch Butterflies Migration
The graceful butterflies may not be the type of animal you think of as migrants. But the monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) make an epic journey every year, involving more than one generation of insects.
Millions of monarch butterflies leave northeastern North America as the weather begins to cool. Their destination is the warm forests of Mexico. During migration, butterflies can travel up to 250 miles per day. The entire journey is approximately 4,800 km (3,000 mi).
The butterflies then congregate in the spruce forests, hanging from the trees and from each other. Millions of butterflies create a stunning sight.
The uniqueness of this animal migration is that the round trip – from Canada to Mexico and back to Canada – takes longer than the maximum lifespan of butterflies. Migrating butterflies are actually three to five generations long; Along the way, female butterflies lay their eggs on the milkweed. The eggs hatch, the caterpillars eat, and then the adult butterflies continue the journey begun by their parents and grandparents.
Scientists still do not know exactly how butterflies know where to go, especially those who are born on the way. They can navigate using the position of the sun or the earth’s magnetic field.
# 1 Incredible Animal Migration: Diehl Vertical Migration, The Largest And Most Frequent Migration On The Planet
The largest animal migrations in the world do not occur annually or irregularly, but every day. Both carnivorous and carnivorous animals that dwell in the cold, dark ocean depths begin to rise at sunset. Migrating creatures include squid, lanterns, shrimp crustaceans, jellyfish, and many creatures too small to be observed with the naked eye.
What is the distance to this amazing migration? Animals rise hundreds of meters. It may not sound like much, but 300 to 1000 feet is a huge distance for microscopic animals, and those small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.
Why are they migrating? There is little food in the deep ocean, but the sunlit waters near the surface are home to plankton, krill, and many other food sources. Thus, deep-sea animals rise to the surface at night to feed.
When the sun begins to rise, the migrating sea creatures drown again. The dark water below the level accessible to sunlight protects them from visual hunters such as seabirds, salmon and tuna.
Next: 10 Fastest Fish in the Ocean