Monarch Butterfly

In this Habitat Tip, we look at the miracle that is associated with the annual monarch butterfly migration. It happens all around us, but you may have never fully realized just how incredible an event it really is.

Concurrent with the status review, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) have actively promoted collaborative efforts across state, organizational, and landownership boundaries to address threats and opportunities facing monarchs and other pollinators.

The Monarch Conservation Webinar series is a collaborative effort between Monarch Joint Venture Partners and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center.

It's that time of the year again ... time to celebrate the year's last generation of monarch butterflies as they prepare to migrate to central Mexico.& ...

Milkweed is one of the best plants to have in your pollinator habitat — Conservation Blueprint's Pete Berthelsen shows you how to grow your own milkweed from seeds.

The Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund has produced a new guide that offers you step-by-step instructions and examples of how to produce great pollinator habitat.

As milkweed, the sole host plant for monarch butterflies, has diminished across the landscape, so have population numbers for the iconic butterfly.

After the dog days of summer and the recent memories of colorful blossoms, many Oklahomans are taking advantage of fall’s cooler weather to redesign their backyard landscape.

Many of us enjoy the beauty of flowers in our backyard and community gardens. Growing native plants adds beauty and important habitats for wildlife, especially for pollinators.

Butterflies are fun to watch fluttering in the garden. To attract them, a butterfly garden should include a variety of plants, nectar for the adults, and plants that provide food for their offspring.

The monarch migration occurs twice every year. Nectar from flowers provides the fuel monarchs need to fly. If there are not any blooming plants to collect nectar from when the monarchs stops, they will not have any energy to continue.

People find butterflies a joy to watch, their brightly colored wings catching the sunlight as they flutter purposefully, yet unpredictably, from flower to flower.

In order to conserve the monarch migration in North America, scientists need a thorough understanding of all aspects of this phenomenal journey.

Our ecoregional planting guides, Selecting Plants for Pollinators, are tailored to specific areas of the United States. You can find out which ecoregion you live in and get your free guide Starting on Page 16 of the planting guides you can find lists of plant names that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat! Print these lists and bring them to your local native plant, garden center or nursery.

Our ecoregional planting guides, Selecting Plants for Pollinators, are tailored to specific areas of the United States. You can find out which ecoregion you live in and get your free guide Starting on Page 16 of the planting guides you can find lists of plant names that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat! Print these lists and bring them to your local native plant, garden center or nursery.

Our ecoregional planting guides, Selecting Plants for Pollinators, are tailored to specific areas of the United States. You can find out which ecoregion you live in and get your free guide Starting on Page 16 of the planting guides you can find lists of plant names that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat! Print these lists and bring them to your local native plant, garden center or nursery.

Our ecoregional planting guides, Selecting Plants for Pollinators, are tailored to specific areas of the United States. You can find out which ecoregion you live in and get your free guide Starting on Page 16 of the planting guides you can find lists of plant names that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat! Print these lists and bring them to your local native plant, garden center or nursery.

Our ecoregional planting guides, Selecting Plants for Pollinators, are tailored to specific areas of the United States. You can find out which ecoregion you live in and get your free guide Starting on Page 16 of the planting guides you can find lists of plant names that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat! Print these lists and bring them to your local native plant, garden center or nursery.

Our ecoregional planting guides, Selecting Plants for Pollinators, are tailored to specific areas of the United States. You can find out which ecoregion you live in and get your free guide Starting on Page 16 of the planting guides you can find lists of plant names that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat! Print these lists and bring them to your local native plant, garden center or nursery.

Our ecoregional planting guides, Selecting Plants for Pollinators, are tailored to specific areas of the United States. You can find out which ecoregion you live in and get your free guide Starting on Page 16 of the planting guides you can find lists of plant names that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat! Print these lists and bring them to your local native plant, garden center or nursery.

Our ecoregional planting guides, Selecting Plants for Pollinators, are tailored to specific areas of the United States. You can find out which ecoregion you live in and get your free guide Starting on Page 16 of the planting guides you can find lists of plant names that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat! Print these lists and bring them to your local native plant, garden center or nursery.

Our ecoregional planting guides, Selecting Plants for Pollinators, are tailored to specific areas of the United States. You can find out which ecoregion you live in and get your free guide Starting on Page 16 of the planting guides you can find lists of plant names that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat! Print these lists and bring them to your local native plant, garden center or nursery.

Milkweed is the monarch’s host plant, and thus it is a must for a monarch garden. Monarch butterflies only lay their eggs on milkweeds and this is the only type of plant the caterpillars will eat.

Wildscaping, or managing yards for wildlife benefits, has become a popular concept for landscaping since it was introduced in Oklahoma. People want to attract wildlife to their yards for a variety of reasons but probably chief among them is that birds and other wildlife bring us pleasure.

This guide features regional native plants that are highly attractive to pollinators and are well-suited for small-scale plantings in gardens, on business and school campuses, in urban greenspaces, and in farm field borders.

Every year, monarchs from as far away as Idaho , Utah, Arizona and other Western states converge to spend the winter in tree groves along the Pacific coast and at a few inland sites.

For the monarch-friendly conservation plantings biologists recommend that 50 to 75 percent of plants come from this list with at least 3 percent of the plantings consisting of milkweed species.

Understanding when monarchs are present allows land managers to time management practices like burning, mowing, grazing, or targeted pesticide application when they are least likely to harm monarchs.

Conservation Blueprint's Peter Berthelsen explains how pumpkins and pollinators interact, in this seasonal Habitat Tip.