Fall Migration Trivia

Canada, or Canadian, geese are seen all over the United States and often signal that fall is ending when flying in their "V" formation to the south. However, many of them will stay in the north if there is adequate food because they are equipped for the cold.

In 1822, a hunter in Germany shot a stork who had an African spear embedded in its neck. This allowed researchers to discover that birds went to warmer climates in the winter time.

Severe drought and wind erosion created massive dust storms that destroyed prairies and farms and led people to flee to California. This period was known as the Dust Bowl and was exacerbated by the Great Depression.

The monarch butterfly is a wonder of nature that breeds in upper North America and Canada and then migrates to Mexico. Generally this migration takes three to five generations of the insect to go both ways each year.

Wearing white after Labor Day was seen as gauche to New Yorkers who had spent the summer at their Newport Mansions in Rhode Island. So upon returning they put away summer clothing and went with more muted colors for winter.