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Very small species like ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris), which measure only 10 cm, fly non-stop for 26 hours from Canada and the United States to Central America at a velocity of 28 mph for a voyage of 652 miles that even includes crossing the Gulf of Mexico. And if the blackpoll warbler (Dendroica striata), only 13 cm long, were to burn gasoline instead of body fat, it would get 715,852 miles per gallon.But the most extensive individual migration known for a mammal was that of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), initially spotted off the Antarctic Peninsula and then seen off the Santa Elena Peninsula of Costa Rica, for a total trip of 7,130 miles.In the Americas, from the Arctic to Antarctica, migratory species are vital ecological and economic resources, shared by the nations and inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere. They are sources of food, means of livelihood and recreation, and they have important biological, cultural and economic values for society.