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Listen to the magical sound of millions of butterflies taking flight at once

"It's one of the rarest sounds on Earth."
By Shannon Connellan  on 
Listen to the magical sound of millions of butterflies taking flight at once
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What does a wondrous cloud of monarch butterflies taking flight at once sound like? A waterfall, of course.

YouTuber and tropical entomologist Phil Torres, who posts short documentary videos as The Jungle Diaries, patiently waited at Mexico's Sierra Chincua Reserve to show this exact moment, when millions of migrating butterflies take off after winter.

"It's one of the rarest sounds on Earth," said Torres. "The sound of millions of monarch butterflies flying around is a world treasure and we need to protect this incredible species."

It's not just audibly stunning, either. Torres' images of monarch butterflies clustered together on tree branches and trunks for the winter are quite simply incredible.

A black and white image of a person with a long braid and thick framed glasses.
Shannon Connellan

Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about everything (but not anything) across entertainment, tech, social good, science, and culture.


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