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Migratory animals

Migratory animals move between areas to find food, breeding places or more suitable conditions. Migration occurs on land, in the air and in water; some populations return to familiar areas each year.

Which animals migrate?

The category includes migratory birds, whales, reindeer and fish. Examples include white storks, cranes, swallows, flamingos, humpback whales, minke whales, some orca populations, reindeer and tuna. Movement patterns vary between species and populations.

albatross

AlbatrossDiomedeidae

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) swimming in an aquarium

Atlantic salmonSalmo salar

Adult bald eagle with a white head, hooked yellow bill and dark brown plumage

Bald eagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus

Large grey beluga sturgeon with a short snout, barbels and rows of bony plates swimming in blue water

Beluga sturgeonHuso huso

Common moorhen with a red forehead, yellow-tipped bill and long green toes

Common moorhenGallinula chloropus

Common starling perched on a mossy branch, showing a pointed yellow bill, pink feet and green-violet iridescent feathers

Common starlingSturnus vulgaris

Common swift in flight with long sickle-shaped wings and a dark body

Common swiftApus apus

crane

cuckoo

CuckooCuculus canorus

Large dark brown death’s-head hawkmoth with a yellowish skull-like pattern on its back

Death’s-head hawkmothAcherontia atropos

duck

DuckAnatidae (ducks in several genera)

Dark grey Eurasian coot with a red eye and white forehead standing on a bank

Eurasian cootFulica atra

Golden-yellow male oriole with black wings among fig leaves

Eurasian golden orioleOriolus oriolus

White Eurasian spoonbill with a long spoon-shaped bill feeding in shallow water

Eurasian spoonbillPlatalea leucorodia

Small, slender silvery anchovy with a bluish back on a sandy seabed

European anchovyEngraulis encrasicolus

European eel (Anguilla anguilla) with a long body and fins continuous around the tail

European eelAnguilla anguilla

Blue European roller with a reddish-brown back perched on a dry branch

European rollerCoracias garrulus

flamingo

FlamingoPhoenicopteridae

Giant oceanic manta ray seen from the front and side in blue water with broad fins spread

Giant oceanic manta rayMobula birostris

goose

GooseAnser and Branta (geese)

gull

GullLaridae (gulls in several genera)

House martin with a glossy blue-black back and white underparts beside a mud nest

House martinDelichon urbicum

Male marmalade hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus, photographed by Sandy Rae

HoverfliesSyrphidae

AI illustration of a hummingbird hawk-moth with grey forewings and orange hindwings

Hummingbird hawk-mothMacroglossum stellatarum

humpback whale

Humpback whaleMegaptera novaeangliae

White little egret with a black bill and yellow toes perched on a trunk

Little egretEgretta garzetta

Silvery horse mackerel with large eyes and a lateral line of bony scutes on ice among other fish

Mediterranean horse mackerelTrachurus mediterraneus

minke whale

Minke whaleBalaenoptera acutorostrata

Monarch butterfly with orange wings, black veins and white dots on a purple and white flower

Monarch butterflyDanaus plexippus

Northern lapwing with a long crest, white belly and green-purple wing reflections

Northern lapwingVanellus vanellus

orca

OrcaOrcinus orca

pelican

PelicanPelecanus spp.

Old illustration of a Pontic shad, an elongated fish with large scales and a forked tail

Pontic shadAlosa immaculata

reindeer

ReindeerRangifer tarandus

White snowy owl with black flecks and yellow eyes perched on a branch

Snowy owlBubo scandiacus

Sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus), a sturgeon with a pointed snout and bony scutes

SturgeonAcipenseridae

swallow

SwallowHirundinidae; Hirundo rustica is the barn swallow

swan

SwanCygnus spp.

tuna

TunaThunnini (within Scombridae)

Side view of a white-spotted whale shark swimming through blue water among smaller fish

Whale sharkRhincodon typus

white stork

White storkCiconia ciconia

White wagtail with a white face, black bib and grey back perched on a branch

White wagtailMotacilla alba