Migration Initial Research

Migration defined: As far as i can tell migration can be separated into 3 categories animal migration, Forest migration and insect migration. Animal migration is a long distance movement of individuals usually on a seasonal basis it effects, birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, insects and crustaceans. Forest migration is the movement of large seed dominated communities in the geographical space and time, insect migration is the seasonal movement of insects particularly in dragonflies, beetles, butterflies and moths.

There are many different types of migration and many directions that i could focus on within the topic ( i knew that animal/insect migration had the most scope so i plan to revolve my research around animal migration) despite this i have no real clear focus in which to base my content so i have decided in order to begin my initial research that i would investigate the top 10 extreme animal migrations that occur around the world in hopes that i could define a specific area of interest and base my website and i book around that. after googling extreme animal migrations these were my results:

1) An insect named the Katydid which after spending 17 years in the soil will migrate to the outside world to sing and mate, their migration can span across thousands of kilometres.

2)Lemming's are small rodent like animals and are usually found in the arctic, they migrate when their food supply is low.

http://sloannota.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/28400_1600x1200-wallpaper-cb1289253002.jpg

3)Wildebeests migrate North to seek fresh grazing sites and water, the migration is halted by rivers where numbers are accumulated before being crossed.

4)Sea Turtles in general migrate between foraging and nesting grounds, some of which take them hundreds and thousands of miles away. The leatherback turtle for instance travels around 10,000 miles or more in search of Jellyfish. Green Turtles migrate west to breed. loggerheads migrate almost 8000 miles to feed and mature.

5)Salmon are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean and return to reproduce ( if i did choose Salmon as an aspect i could include a section on the salmon that migrate in the UK)

http://sdakotabirds.com/species/photos/ruby_throated_hummingbird.jpg

6) Hummingbirds all have different migration patterns depending on species migrate due to season to avoid the winter freeze, Ruby throated hummingbirds for instance migrate between southern Mexico and Northern Panama ( they do not migrate in flocks but as individuals), a hummingbird covers generally 20 miles a day.

http://www.evilsunday.com/wp-content/uploads/new/2010/11/Migration-of-animals-4.jpg

7)Monarch Butterflies migrate due to season, they are unable to survive the colder temperatures, large amounts of monarch butterflies migrate to mexico to hibernate and can travel up to 2000 kilometres. it is only the 4th generation that migrates (they live for about 8 months whereas the previous generations only live up to 6 weeks)

8)Storks they migrate between Europe and South Africa to breed

9) Freshwater Eels migrate for breeding purposes and can travel up to 6 months and it has been said that the adults die after spawning.

10 Whales most species of whales migrate, the blue whales migrate thousands of kilometres to breed in warmer waters, humpbacks migrate for the same reasons breeding and feeding and travel huge distances.

So far i am very much intrigued by Monarch butterflies, hummingbirds and sea turtles although i feel that there should be more of a running theme to my content, so if i choose monarch's i would prefer to focus it on insect migration rather than various random animals but i plan to do more research around my specific areas before deciding.

http://www.seeturtles.org/1895/sea-turtle-migration.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Do_lemmings_migrate_and_when
http://suite101.com/article/storks-and-migration-a48719
http://yellowtogreen.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/10-list-of-animals-most-extreme.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon
http://www.hummingbirds.net/migration.html
http://www.whaleroute.com/migrate/
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Eels-the-Oddest-Migration-for-Sex-73420.shtml
http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/monarch-butterflies-facts.html

http://www.expertafrica.com/tanzania/info/serengeti-wildebeest-migration