MeganKirk

ResearchPaper
January25,2015
AnimalMigrationPatterns

Everyyear,thousandsofanimalsmigratehundredsofmilesinsearchoffood,mates,and
differentweather.Animalshavedifferentreasonswhytheymigrate,andalsotraveldifferent
lengthstoreachtheirlocation.Therearesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenanimalsthat
migratebyland,water,andsky.
Thefirstmainwayofmigrationistheland.Twoanimalsthatmigratebylandarezebra
andwildebeest.Onethingthat'sverysimilaraboutthetwoanimalsmigrationsisthereason
behindit.ThezebraandwildebeestbothliveinAfrica.Whenthedryseasoncomestheyboth
migratetofindfoodandwater.Onemajordifferencebetweenthezebramigrationand
wildebeestmigrationarethepathstheytaketofindgrassandwater.ZebramigratefromNamibia
toBotswana,whichaccordingtoNationalGeographicisthelongestlandmigrationinAfrica.
WildebeestmigratefromTanzaniaKenya.Finally,asimilarityisthatbeforethetwoanimals
makethelongesttrekoftheirjourney,theygivebirthtotheiryoung,unlikeotherspecieswho
migratetobreed.Althoughthezebraandwildebeestaretwoverydifferentspecies,theyarestill
alikeinmanydifferentways.
Anothermainwayofmigrationisbywater.Blacktipsharksandhumpbackwhalesare
twoanimalsthatmigratethisway.Abigsimilaritywiththesetwoanimalsmigrationisthe
reasontomigrate.BothTheBlacktipsharksandhumpbackwhalesmigrateeveryyeartofind

matesandgivebirth.Onedifferenceinthemigrationiswheretheymigratetoandfrom.Blacktip
sharksmigratealongtheAtlanticcoastofFlorida,whereasthehumpbackwhalesmigratefrom
AlaskatotheWestcoastoftheU.S.andHawaii.Lastly,onestrangesimilaritybetweenthetwo
isthattheybothcomesurprisinglyclosetoshoreduringmigration.AccordingtotheNational
WildlifeFederation,boththewhalesandsharkscomeclosetotheshore,especiallywhenlooking
forfood.Whenlookingatmarinecreaturesthatmigrate,youllfindthatmanyoftheanimals
migrateforthesamereasons,butmigrateindifferentlocationsallovertheworld.
Onelastmainwayofmigrationisbyflight.Twoanimalsthatmigratebyflightyearlyare
theMonarchButterfliesandArcticTerns.Onesimilaritybetweenthetwomigrationsisthe
directiontheyareflying.Boththebutterfliesandbirdsflysouthduringtheirmigrations.Another
similarityistheirreasoningbehindmigration.TheArcticTernsmigratefromtheirbreeding
groundsintheArcticTundraoncethedaysstartgettingshorter.Theyflydownuntiltheyare
neartheshoresofAntarctica,whereitissummer.Monarchsalsoflytogetawayfromthecold.
TheyflyfromdifferentpartsoftheU.S.usingcombinationsofaircurrentsandthermalsuntil
theyreachsouthernCaliforniaandMexicotobeinthewarmerweather,accordingtotheUnited
StatesDepartmentofAgricultureForestService.Finally,ahugedifferenceisthedistancethey
travel.TheMonarchstravelabouthalfthelengththatArcticTernstravel
Yearly,manydifferentanimalsmigrateinsearchoffood,water,mates,andwarmer
weather.Threemainwaystomigrateareonland,inwater,andupinthesky.Eventhoughthese
animalsmigrateindifferentways,therearemanysimilarities.Althoughallofthesespeciesare
verydifferent,manyhavethesameinstinctsandarealikeinmorewaysthanweknow.

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