a)migration - seasonal movement of animals from one region to another.
b)hibernating - to pass the winter in a torpid or resting state
c)endangered - (of a species) seriously at risk of extinction.
d)milkweed - a herbaceous American plant with milky sap. Some kinds attract butterflies, some yield a variety of useful products, and some are grown as ornamentals.
Monarch butterflies are not able to survive the cold winters of most of the United States so they migrate south and west each autumn to escape the cold weather. The monarch migration usually starts in about October of each year, but can start earlier if the weather turns cold sooner than the butterflies will spend their winter hibernation in Mexico and some parts of Southern California where it is warm all year long. If the monarch lives in the Eastern states, usually east of the Rocky Mountains, it will migrate to Mexico and hibernate in oyamel fir trees. If the monarch butterfly lives west of the Rocky Mountains, then it will hibernate in and around Pacific Grove, California in eucalyptus trees. Most adult butterflies live only about a month, but the fifth generation lives about seven to eight months. The number of the population of Monarch butterflies has decreased in the past years.The number of the population of Monarch butterflies has decreased for a few reasons: widespread loss of a plant called milkweed, which their young rely on for food; extreme climate fluctuations in North America, including freezing temperatures and heavy rain; and deforestation.
The websites that helped me to gather some of the above information are these : Washington post and Video- Migration of Monarch Butterflies
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