Monarch Butterflies - St Helena Island

I know, butterflies aren't birds and this is a bird photo blog.  My bad!  The Monarch Butterflies stay as adults over winter to kick start their summer breeding cycle and is one of the only butterflies to do so.

These butterflies aren't a native but they eat milkweeds and therefore are accepted as locals.  The milkweed has toxins which the butterfly is immune to which means that they aren't on the food chain for most bird species.