Photo by ENRIQUE CASTRO/AFP via Getty Images
According to Mexico’s Environment Department – The first monarch butterflies have appeared in the mountain top forests of central Mexico where they spend the winter every year. This means that Monarch butterflies annual migration has started. These butterflies species fly around 2,800 miles from Canada and the United States to spend the coldest months of the year in Mexico.
The department said the butterflies were seen around their three largest traditional wintering grounds – Sierra Chincua, El Rosario and Cerro Pelón in Michoacan state.
The millions of monarch butterflies return to Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site by UNESCO which is seen covered in fluttering orange, black and white wonders. This unique phenomenon is an exceptional experience of nature where they fill the sky when they take flight, and make a sound like light rain with the beating of their wings.
Since they arrive around the time, Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico, many local communities, like the Mazahuas and Purepechas peoples, relate them to souls coming back from the dead.
After wintering in Mexico, the monarch butterflies fly north, breeding multiple generations along the way for thousands of miles. Each year, generally in March, the monarchs migrate back to the United States and Canada.
