Science Word in the News: MIGRATE

Canada Goose babies, Branta canadensis
Canada Goose babies

Migrating animals
Never guess.
They know where to go
With no GPS.

Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncates
Bottlenose Dolphin

Definition: MIGRATE means to move from one region or habitat to another.

Male Monarch Butterfly, Milkweed Butterfly, Danaus plexippus
Male Monarch Butterfly

Derivation: MIGRATE comes from the Latin word migrāre,
which means to move from place to place.

Other words with this root:
Immigrant
 a person who comes to live permanently in a new country
Migrant
a person or animal who migrates
OR
 a person who moves from place to place for work, especially a farm laborer

African Elephant Eating, Loxodonta africana
African Elephant

Examples:
Gray Whales
Each fall they travel 5,000 miles from Arctic feeding grounds to warm Mexican breeding lagoons. In the spring they head back.
African Elephant
At the start of the dry season they migrate to find water holes.
Monarch Butterflies
In autumn, they fly 2,500 miles to warmer regions in Mexico or southern California.

Did You Know?
Many European song birds migrate to Africa in the winter. Some scientists believe they use this time to practice their singing–“like a bird band camp”–in preparation for the mating season when they return.

Red-winged Blackbird Singing, Agelaius phoeniceus
Male Red-Winged Blackbird

In the news:
Read about “bird band camp”:
New Scientist

Find out more!
View an entertaining migration video:
Kids Learning Animation Video

See more migrating animals at my husband’s and my photography website: http://www.agpix.com/cohen

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