COLORFUL BUTTERFLIES WINTER IN CALIFORNIA.

Byline: Daily News

Human snowbirds, trekking south to escape the cold, aren't the only ones who head for warmer climes during the winter.

Kaleidoscopic clouds of monarch butterflies arrive in several communities along the coast in October through December, breeding and hatching a new generation before heading northward again in late February and March.

The best time to see the orange and black monarchs is on warm, sunny days when they take flight in a hunt for food. On cold days, they cluster together for warmth on tree branches with their wings folded, looking much like a clump of dead leaves.

The monarchs travel as far as 2,000 miles in four months, with butterflies west of the Rockies heading for the central California coast and those from east of the Rockies wintering in the mountains of central Mexico.

Although the butterflies live only two to nine months, each year's flock migrates to the same spots, even to the same trees, experts say. But they don't know why. Some say monarchs, like birds and whales, use the changing rays of the sun to find the same winter home year after year. Other suggest that genetic olfactory cues provide the guidance system; still others say the homing instinct is due to magnetite, a magnetic iron oxide, present in the bodies of the monarchs.

Bill Coleman of Ventura, an associate member of the Monarch Butterfly Research Project of Scarborough College at the University of Toronto, is tagging many butterflies in Ventura this winter in an attempt to trace their migratory patterns.

Here are some spots to see wintering monarchs:

Ventura: Residents know the butterflies have arrived when they see bunches of them fluttering across the Ventura Freeway near Seaward Avenue, heading for the eucalyptus trees on the Pierpont Bluffs, overlooking the freeway, and in the cypress trees in Hobo Jungle, near the mouth of the Ventura River. There are no special viewing areas. Information: [phone].

San Luis Obispo County beach areas: The Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove, off Highway 1 between Pismo Beach and Grover Beach, is the butterflies' favorite spot to winter. Volunteer docents and guides provide tours and information on the butterflies. Admission is free. Information: [phone].

Pacific Grove: George Washington Park at Spruce and Alder Street attracts butterflies to trees in a clearing near the center of the park; the Monarch Grove Sanctuary is next to the Butterfly Grove Inn at Lighthouse Avenue and Ridge Road. Admission to both parks is free. Information: [phone].

Santa Cruz: At Natural Bridges State Park, off Highway 1 at 2531 W. Cliff Drive, the wintering butterflies nestle in Monarch Grove, a cluster of trees accessible via a wooded pathway to a central viewing platform. A visitor's center, open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, has displays and exhibits on the butterflies as well as other park wildlife. Admission is $6 per car. Information: [phone].

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

Photo Monarch butterflies, chased from up north by the snow and cold, winter at several California spots.