Every year, there are Animal migrations across Missouri and It’s a beautiful site to behold. Today I’m covering Hummingbirds, Geese, and the Monarch Butterfly and a few events where you can get up close and personal with these animals.

The first cool breeze, the whiff of bonfires, and millions of birds overhead are tell tale signs that fall is near in Missouri

But what animals are migrating? Who’s flying and where are they going??

Canadian geese are a classic symbol of changing seasons in Missouri. Their V-shaped flocks overhead signal the arrival of autumn as they migrate southward in fall. These large waterfowl travel thousands of miles along the Central Flyway between northern Canada and their wintering grounds – some geese cover 2,000–3,000 miles in a season, and with favorable winds can fly up to 1,500 miles in just 24 hours 🤯

In Missouri, migrating flocks begin appearing as early as late August or September. Peak numbers are often seen in late fall (October through November) as geese arrive to wait out the winter; by late November many have settled on Missouri’s lakes and fields, usually completing their southward migration by December. These epic journeys may be repeated for over 20 years of a goose’s life, as individuals often make dozens of round-trip migrations in their life.

Missouri provides crucial habitat for migrating geese. The birds can be spotted statewide anywhere there is open water and short grass – ponds, lakes, wetlands, rivers, parks, golf courses, and farm fields all make inviting stops. In fact, southern Missouri’s reservoirs (like Lake of the Ozarks or Truman Lake) and flooded fields serve as important rest and refueling sites, offering abundant food and safe roosting areas.

Canada geese are primarily herbivores and opportunistic grazers: they feed on aquatic vegetation, tender grass shoots, seeds and grains, and even waste corn or wheat left in harvested fields. During late summer and fall, their diet shifts to include more seeds and agricultural grain to build fat for migration. Thanks to this food supply, many geese that breed in the sub-arctic migrate only as far as Missouri or the Midwest and can spend winter here if water remains unfrozen. (Missouri also has a resident giant Canada goose population that stays year-round.) With plenty of forage and open water, flocks of Canada geese will loaf in Missouri until deep winter cold pushes them further south. By early spring, as ice melts, they ride the warming winds northward again.

I never thought I’d say this but: This Butterfly is really cool.

The monarch butterfly’s migration through Missouri is one of nature’s marvels. Monarchs are the only butterfly known to make a long-distance, round-trip migration each year.

Every fall, the generation of monarchs born in late summer embarks on a journey of up to 3,000 miles to reach their overwintering sites – the same cool mountain forests of central Mexico where their great-grandparents spent the previous winter. I

In Missouri, monarchs begin streaming south in late August, and mid-September is the peak migration period when you’ll see these orange-and-black butterflies fluttering through in great number.

Unlike birds, individual monarchs don’t complete a round trip – the ones you see in autumn are a “supergeneration” that may live 8–9 months (much longer than a summer monarch) and fly all the way to Mexico without breed. They remain in Mexico through winter, and in spring these same butterflies begin moving north. By late April or May, monarchs (the offspring of those that left Mexico) arrive back in Missouri, reproducing as they go. It takes four generations to complete the full cycle: the fourth generation born in Missouri and other northern areas each summer will migrate back to Mexico in the fall.

You can spot monarchs throughout Missouri during migration wherever nectar flowers are available – in prairies, along roadsides, and even city parks and backyards. They occur statewide in a variety of habitats: open fields and grasslands, roadside thickets, and suburban gardens with milkweed and flowers. Monarchs depend on milkweed plants to survive: monarch caterpillars can only eat milkweed leaves.

Adult monarchs, by contrast, feed on nectar from many blooming plants (they especially love late-season natives like asters and goldenrods in the sunflower family). This diet of milkweed renders monarchs toxic and bad-tasting to predators – their vivid orange coloration advertises this defense.

Questions I have always had - Can Hummingbirds open their beak all the way or is it just a tube?

Answer: yes

Quick Facts that blew my mind:
15 - 80 wingflaps per SECOND
Heart rate up to 1,200 beats per minute
They can fly 30 - 70 MPH

Missouri’s tiny ruby-throated hummingbirds make an astonishing journey for such small creatures. Weighing less than a nickel, these iridescent green birds fly between their breeding grounds here and wintering areas in southern Mexico and Central America each year.

By late summer, hummingbirds start heading south: migration kicks off in mid-August, and most have left the state by the end of September or very early October. This is when you might see a flurry of hungry hummingbirds in backyards. To prepare for their voyage, hummingbirds double their body weight by fattening up on nectar and insects in late summer. This fuel is crucial because their route can include an epic non-stop flight across the Gulf of Mexico – about 600 miles over open water.

Despite the challenges, most hummingbirds reach the Yucatán Peninsula and then push further into Central America to spend winter.

Learn all about Monarchs while at the same time getting to tag and release them. There is milkweed giveaways and much more for all ages. Join this annual event and learn how you can help the population of the monarch butterfly. Sign up below.

On September 25th there are a number of events to learn about the migratory birds including a guided birdwatching hike at Rockwoods Reservation
2751 Glencoe rd
Wildwood, MO 63038
(636) 458-2236

Missouri is famed for vast flocks of snow geese in both spring (February–April) and fall (October–December), especially at wildlife refuges in northwest and central Missouri. They are part of a continental journey spanning thousands of miles between the Arctic and the Gulf Coast.

From April–May (northward) and September–October (southward), songbirds, thrushes, vireos, tanagers, warblers, and kinglets migrate by the millions through Missouri, following rivers and forest corridors.

Missouri’s lakes and refuges fill with ducks—especially mallards, blue-winged teal, and pintails—during fall (September–December) and spring migrations (February–April). Duck counts surge in November and early December.

August and late April are prime months for spotting migrating shorebirds along Missouri’s rivers, mudflats, and managed wetlands.

Bald eagles migrate into Missouri from Canada and the Great Lakes by late October, peaking December–February. They gather near open water, feeding on fish by the state's major rivers.