Seasons and Animal Behavior

Core Idea

As seasons change, temperatures shift and food becomes more or less available. Animals respond to these changes in different ways. Some migrate (travel to warmer places). Some hibernate (go into a deep sleep). Some store food. Some grow thicker fur. These seasonal behaviors help animals survive through the toughest times of year.

How It's Best Learned

Track seasonal changes in your own neighborhood — what animals do you see in summer vs. winter? Watch videos of bird migration, bears preparing for hibernation, and squirrels burying acorns. Create a chart of animal strategies for surviving winter.

Common Misconceptions

• Children may think all animals hibernate in winter (only some do).
• Some children think hibernating animals are just sleeping normally (hibernation is much deeper than regular sleep).
• Children may think birds fly south because they do not like the cold (they leave because food disappears).

Explainer

Imagine summer: the sun is warm, flowers are blooming, insects are buzzing, and fruit hangs heavy on the trees. Now imagine winter: the ground is frozen, most plants have gone dormant, insects have disappeared, and snow covers everything. For animals, these seasonal changes are a big deal. The food and warmth they depend on can change dramatically from one season to the next.

Different animals have developed different strategies for dealing with tough seasons. Migration is one of the most dramatic. Every fall, millions of geese, ducks, hummingbirds, and other birds fly hundreds or even thousands of miles south to warmer places where food is still available. In spring, they fly back north to raise their young. Some butterflies migrate too — monarch butterflies travel from Canada all the way to Mexico!

Hibernation is another strategy. Some animals deal with winter by going into a very deep sleep. Bears, groundhogs, bats, and some chipmunks find a sheltered spot (a den, cave, or burrow) and settle in for months. During hibernation, their body temperature drops, their heartbeat slows way down, and they barely breathe. They live off fat they stored up by eating a lot in the fall. This saves a huge amount of energy when food is impossible to find.

Not every animal migrates or hibernates. Some animals just tough it out. Squirrels spend the fall burying acorns and nuts everywhere so they can dig them up and eat them during winter. Rabbits and deer grow thicker fur as winter approaches to stay warmer. Arctic hares and weasels even change color — from brown in summer to white in winter — to blend in with the snow and hide from predators. Every animal has its own way of responding to the seasons, and these responses are the reason they survive from year to year.