Migration routes

There are multiple routes that monarch butterflies can take to fly to their overwinter site, in the mountains of Mexico.

For Dani, for example, she was born in Southern Ontario, so she spent the summer there, gathering lipid (fat) in order to survive her incredible journey. Research has shown that, just like her ancestors, she will likely take what researchers call the “Central” flyway and cross the states of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and will finally cross Texas before arriving at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the mountains of Central Mexico.

While Dani will take that route, many other members of her species will decide to take other ones. Some monarchs will take an eastern small flyway closer to the coast of the United States while others will leave Canada from other provinces like Saskatchewan. All of these butterflies will however meet in Texas to continue their journey south.

Finally, the western population of monarchs that spent the breeding season in the Rocky Mountains are Oregon, will migrate to California and spend their diapause clustered on eucalyptus trees or Monterey cypresses, far away from the forests of Mexico.