Fall sets in motion a journey of some 3,000 miles for these monarch butterflies, which migrate from southern Canada to their wintering habitat in central Mexico. There, they cluster together in fir trees, creating the illusion of orange, fluttering foliage. They’ll remain in their winter roosts until March, when the journey back north begins. But no one individual monarch will complete the full roundtrip, which exceeds the normal monarch lifespan; instead it will take four generations of monarchs to complete the full migration, each individual seemingly driven by an internal compass that guides its flight path.
Monarch butterflies migrate south
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Sitting down and taking a stand
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Independence Day
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A yearly sign that spring has sprung
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Visiting a Maratha fortress
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Getting to the bottom of the underwater waterfall
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Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico
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World Oceans Day
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Lake Tekapo, New Zealand
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Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch on the institution s 175th anniversary
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Wild scene on the Merced River
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Celebrating National Dentist Day
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Happy 50th for the National Trails System!
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Alaska Bald Eagle Festival
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A traboule in Lyon, France
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World Migratory Bird Day
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Happy trails for the 21st century
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World Honey Bee Day
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Winter in England s Cotswolds
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A new tradition in London
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San Blas Islands, Panama
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Last stop before leaving the solar system
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Earth Science Week
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It’s Opening Day for Major League Baseball
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Belize Barrier Reef
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A different kind of dive
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Art abounds at the Palais Garnier
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The lemurs of Madagascar
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Great cormorants
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St. James Tidal Pool, Cape Town, South Africa
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Merry Christmas!
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