Top Wildlife Migrations on Earth

Just a cursory glance at the natural world will reveal that it is in a constant state of motion. Migration is the way of life for thousands of species and witnessing these spectacular events, often involving millions of individuals, is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have. Let us guide you around the globe to walk, swim and fly alongside some of nature’s greatest journeys.

March of the penguins in Patagonia

The Magellanic penguins of Argentina are some of the most intrepid voyagers of the natural world. After raising their young over the summer months, they take to the seas in early March in huge numbers, travelling up to 4,000 miles north to more abundant fishing grounds in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The best time to see them, however, is during the breeding season from October to the end of February, when they gather in massive colonies, such as those at Punta Tombo. These characterful birds dig burrows into the dunes to protect their young from predators and the elements, and the sound of their distinctive braying call will stay with any visitor.

Monarch magic in Mexico

Every autumn, millions of monarch butterflies migrate from the US and Canada to the central highlands of Mexico to roost in the fir trees there. This annual phenomenon is so long-lasting that in Mesoamerican culture the butterflies have come to represent the returning souls of deceased loved ones. Their arrival in early November coincides with the Mexican Day of the Dead. The Mexican government has also allocated their overwintering grounds in Michoacán and the State of Mexico a biosphere reserve to protect these beautiful insects. Visit from late December to February to see the butterflies fluttering through the air in huge clouds or carpeting the trees in shifting masses of flame-coloured wings.

Giants of the deep in South America

Springtime on Península Valdés offers the chance to see this extraordinary migration – when vast numbers of southern right whales converge off the Argentinian coast to mate and give birth. These gentle baleen giants have been coming here for thousands of years and use the calm, shallow waters as the ideal nursery to raise their young. September and October are the best months to visit as the weather has improved, making boat trips more comfortable, and the calves have grown and gained in confidence, playfully breaching among the waves.

Pink perfection at Tanzania’s Rift Valley lakes

The dry season is often viewed as the best time for wildlife spotting in Tanzania. However, the wet months from November to May provide arguably the most colourful display, which is to be found on Lake Manyara. This is when thousands of flamingos congregate in the lake’s shallow, alkaline waters. They feed on the abundant algae and brine shrimp that give them their striking colouration, turning the lake’s surface into a fabulous sea of pink. Early morning or sunset provides the best light to see and photograph these charismatic birds reflected in the azure waters; and other wading residents, including herons, storks and pelicans, can also be seen.

Stripes of the savannah in Botswana

When you hear the words ‘migration’ and ‘Africa’, your mind might go straight to wildebeest in Tanzania and Kenya. However, for an equally dramatic but lesser-known mammalian journey, go to Botswana where up to 30,000 zebra make their way from the Okavango Delta in the north to the Makgadikgadi Pans in the south. They feast on the nutrient-rich grass before it disappears with the end of the rainy season. Between January and April, the plentiful food sources provide ideal conditions for the zebra to birth and rear their young. This, in turn, draws predators such as lions, hyenas, and leopards, lured by the abundance of easy prey.

The Great Sardine Run in South Africa

Our oceans play host to countless migratory journeys. Perhaps the most dramatic is one that takes place off the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa in June and July. Millions of sardines, driven by upwellings of cold water in the Indian Ocean, form massive shoals, in turn attracting an abundance of predators, including sharks, dolphins, whales and gannets. Herded and harassed, the sardines cluster into dense ‘bait balls’ for protection, sparking a feeding frenzy that turns the ocean’s surface into a boiling riot of activity as the hunters compete to snatch up the sardines before they are gone.

Night flight across Zambia

Every year between October and December, one of Zambia’s smallest national parks, Kasanka, is home to the world’s largest mammal migration. 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats from all over southern Africa congregate over a single small area of swampland to feast on the newly ripened fruit that comes with the start of the rainy season. Specially built tree hides give visitors the perfect vantage to view this awe-inspiring display as countless numbers of bats take to the air at dusk and dawn. Meanwhile, martial eagles and African sea eagles circle the skies for easy pickings and leopards and Nile crocodiles lie in wait below.

Winter ballet of Hokkaido’s Cranes

Once brought to the brink of extinction, Japanese red-crowned cranes now thrive on the northern island of Hokkaido. During the winter months, they create a beautifully balletic spectacle, travelling to winter feeding grounds to perform a famed courtship ritual, leaping and calling to one another beneath softly falling snow. This elaborate dance helps strengthen the bonds between mating pairs, who often mate for life, and has led to the cranes becoming a national symbol of love and fidelity in Japan. For bird lovers, Hokkaido has become a popular destination from November to March before the cranes fly back to the wetlands for the summer.

Graceful manta rays in the Raja Ampat Islands

The Raja Ampat archipelago sits astride the Coral Triangle, a region with the richest marine biodiversity on Earth, so it comes as no surprise that it hosts one of the most impressive natural phenomena the seas have to offer, in the form of the great manta ray gatherings between October and April. Hundreds of these massive, other-worldly creatures congregate on a single ‘cleaning station’, so smaller fish can remove parasites from their skin, or assemble in circles around plankton blooms to feed. Diving alongside these majestic denizens of the deep is an experience that any SCUBA enthusiast should be sure not to miss.

Encountering majestic elephant herds in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is known for pristine beaches, ancient temples and welcoming hospitality but it is also the home to the highest concentration of Asian elephants in the world. There is no better place to witness this than at the Gathering, when more than three hundred of these giants make their way to the ancient, man-made reservoir at Minneriya between July and October to feed, socialise, bathe and find a mate. This humbling natural get-together has been observed for hundreds of years and draws locals and tourists alike to view the elephants as they renew old bonds and introduce their young to the extended family.

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