How to Spot Monarch Butterflies During Their Annual Migration
Like some people who live in the northern parts of the United States (or any part of Canada), monarch butterflies love to travel south every winter. And who can blame them? Living here in the cold and humid months is not easy for us, let alone something with such thin wings.
And while we can say goodbye to beautiful orange-black insects for part of the year, people in different parts of the country will have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of them on their way to warmer regions. Here’s what you need to know about spotting monarch butterflies as they migrate south.
What you need to know about the autumn monarch butterfly migration
Every year from September to November the monarch butterflies of North America descend south to two locations. According to Monarch Watch , the nonprofit outreach program focused on the monarch butterfly, a winged insect that travels west of the Rocky Mountains to small groves of trees along the California coast in summer. Monarchs living east of the Rocky Mountains prefer the mountainous forests of Mexico.
When to look for migrant monarchs in your area
Monarch butterflies of North America do not harvest at a specific time each year and travel together: they base their autumn departure on changes in temperature and the amount of daylight in a particular location.
The easiest way to determine when butterflies will pass through your territory is to use this chart, courtesy of Monarch Watch :
If you don’t know right through your latitude, this is just one quick search (for example, “latitude of Omaha”). Where did these dates come from? Monarch Watch notes that these are general guidelines, not dates set in stone, that indicate when a decent number of monarchs should be observed at each latitude. Here’s more :
These predictions are based on Monarch Watch reports, first-hand observations and records of thousands of tagged butterflies that have been discovered over the years. Local migration data for any given year may differ from this general pattern, but it is surprisingly consistent when viewed as a large-scale phenomenon.
They also have this handy map if you need additional visual aids:
So check the map, grab your binoculars and enjoy the butterflies.