Page 112 - One Million Things: Animal Life - The Incredible Visual Guide
P. 112

ARCTIC













                                                       1


         RED CROSSBILL
     1
    Found in the northern forests of         NORTH                                                      4
    North America and Europe, red            AMERICA
    crossbills eat conifer seeds. In
    years when seeds are in short
     supply, a mass movement, or
     irruption, occurs as crossbills   2                                                                                            8
     fly south in search of food.

                                                                                                   EUROPEAN EEL
                                                                                               4
        GRAY WHALE                                                         3                   After starting life in the western
      2
     Each spring and fall,                                                                     Atlantic Ocean, young eels
     gray whales migrate between                                                               migrate east to European rivers, a
      summer feeding grounds in the                                                            journey that can take three years.
      Arctic and winter lagoons off                                                            After many years there they migrate
      Baja California, Mexico, where                                                           back to their birthplace to breed.
      the females give birth.










                                           SPINY LOBSTER
                                       3
                                       Adult Caribbean spiny lobsters
                                       live in coral reefs but in the fall               SOUTH
                                       they migrate to deeper waters                    AMERICA                              5
                                       to avoid colder conditions.
                                       Unusually, they travel together
                                       and in single file until they
                                       reach open water.
                                                                                                               5  GREEN TURTLE
                                                                                                               Every three years or so, these
                                                                                                               marine reptiles take a break from
                                                                                                               feeding on seagrasses off the coast
                                                                                                                of Brazil and make the 2,500-mile
              MIGRATION                                                                                         (4,000-km) round trip to Ascension
                                                                                                                Island in the south Atlantic to mate
                                                                                                                and breed.
              While many animals never leave their habitats,
              others regularly migrate (move from one habitat to
               another) in order to avoid excessive heat or cold,
               to find food, or to breed. The journeys can be short,
               like those of the European toad, but sometimes the                  6
               distances covered are immense. Migration often
               coincides with the changing seasons, but for some,
               such as the eel, it spans a lifetime.




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