Monarch butterflies mass together on the branches of an Oyamel Fir tree to stay warm on a chilly day in their over-winter site in the Cerro Pelon Monarch Butterfly Preserve near Macheros, Michoacan, Mexico. The monarch butterfly migration is a phenomenon across North America, where the butterflies migrates each autumn to overwintering sites in Central Mexico.

---

Size: 8456px × 5637px
Location: Macheros, Michoacan, Mexico
Photo credit: © Richard Ellis / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: annual, biosphere, bough, branches, bugs, butterflies, butterfly, cerro, conservation, copy, copyspace, cycle, danaus, day, daytime, ecology, ecosystem, endangered, famous, fir, forest, habitat, horizontal, insects, landscape, macheros, mariposa, mexican, mexico, michoacan, migration, monarca, monarch, mountains, natural, nature, overwintering, oyamel, pelon, people, phenomenon, picturesque, places, plexippus, protected, reserve, roosts, sanctuaries, sanctuary, scenic, sightseeing, space, species, swarms, tourism, travel, trees, winter, wintering