Have you ever gone on a trip away from home?
Maybe you traveled in a car to see some family,
or took a plane to go somewhere fun on vacation!
Well, did you know that a lot of animals take
trips, too?
Many different kinds of animals move from
one place to another.
And when they do, we say they migrate.
But not all kinds of trips that animals make
are considered migration.
When Squeaks moves from the lab to the kitchen,
we don’t call /that/ a migration.
Sorry, Squeaks...but we /can/ call it snack
time!
Most of the time, migration means moving over
a /long/ distance.
So, animals can migrate to different parts
of a country...or even different parts of
the world!
Now, migrations also happen at a certain /time/.
For example, you might have seen birds flying
south for the winter.
That's a kind of migration!
But they’re not just going on a trip for
fun.
Animals migrate for good reasons.
Many birds migrate in the winter because the
weather is too cold for them, so they need
to go someplace warmer.
Other animals, migrate long distances to look
for food.
And sometimes, creatures migrate so that they
can have babies in a place they know is safe.
It doesn’t matter if the animals move over
land...through water...or in the air.
If an animal moves a certain distance, and
does it at a certain time...it’s a pretty
good bet they’re migrating.
So, what are we waiting for?
Let’s take a look at some cool animal migrations!
Let’s meet the champion of migration on
land...the caribou.
Caribou live way up north, in places like
Northern Canada and the state of Alaska.
And one group of caribou -- called a herd
-- moves around this area in a big loop...and
they do it every year.
For most of the winter, this herd of caribou
lives here, right on the border between Canada
and Alaska.
Then, in early spring, around April, the caribou
go on the move.
They travel about 600 kilometers north, to
an area near the ocean.
And this place near the coast has lots of
food for the caribou to eat.
So this is where the mother caribou have their
babies!
But it’s not such a great place for long!
/That’s/ because by the middle of summer,
the coast becomes home to big swarms of mosquitos
and other biting insects!
So the herd goes on the move again...this
time they move /away/ from the ocean.
Then, in the fall, when things start to get
really cold, they move back south where there’s
more food, and the weather is less harsh.
Finally, when spring arrives...they start
all over again!
At the end of the year, some of these caribou
have walked almost 5,000 kilometers!
Whew!
When it comes to migrations in the sea, whales
go farther than any other kind of animal.
Lots of kinds of whales migrate, but the whale
that migrates the farthest is this one—the
humpback whale.
Most kinds of humpbacks spend the summer in
cool waters up north, near places like Alaska.
All summer they eat things like shrimp and
small fish, building up the energy they’ll
need for the trip they’re about to take.
When the water starts to get too cool, the
humpbacks swim south to warmer waters near
Hawai’i and other tropical islands.
There, the whales rest and have their babies.
And they stay there until the babies are strong
enough to swim back north.
It can be a long swim, too!
The longest recorded swim for a humpback whale
is over 15,000 kilometers!
But one animal that’s in the running for
making the longest migration /ever/ is the
Arctic Tern.
This bird isn’t very big...it’s only about
the size of the ruler you use at school … and
some of the time, it lives near the North
Pole.
When winter comes, though, it doesn’t just
go a /little bit/ south.
The Arctic tern flies over 35,000 kilometers
to the very tip of South America.
That’s about as far south as you can go!
It’s not only one of the longest migrations
by air...it’s one of the longest migrations
made by /any/ animal!
How do all of these animals find their way?
After all, they don’t have maps, or phones,
or computers like people do.
Well, different animals have their own ways
to keep them from getting lost.
Some animals look to the sky and use the stars,
moon, and sun to help them find their way.
Others stay on the right path by watching
the landscape and following features like
mountains and rivers.
Caribou, humpback whales, and Arctic terns
are just /some/ of the animals that make these
amazing journeys.
But fish, insects, and even jellyfish migrate,
too.
That’s something to think about the next
time /you’re/ on a trip!
Thanks for joining me on SciShow Kids!
Do you have a question you’d like us to
answer?
Ask a grownup to help you to leave a comment
on this video, or ask them to send an email
to Kids@SciShow.com!
