Altitudinal migration is a short-distance animal migration from lower altitudes to higher altitudes and back. It is commonly thought to happen in response to climate and food availability changes as well as increasingly due to anthropogenic influence.These migrations can occur both during reproductive and non-reproductive seasons. Altitudinal avian migration is common, and can also be found in other vertebrates, and can be seen in some invertebrates. Typical characteristics of tropical altitudinal migrants include: a high rate of frugivory or nectarvory; movement between lower elevation areas during non-breeding seasons and higher elevation areas during breeding seasons, or on a consistent annual or seasonal cycle; at least part of the population being migratory with a possible portion of the population residing at breeding sites year-round. This last characteristic can be sex-biased, as it is with juncos, in which the males are less likely to migrate than the females. The white-ruffed manakin provides a good example of an altitudinal migrant by displaying all of these traits. It has a high rate of frugivory, migrates from lower elevations to higher elevations on a predictable breeding-season based cycle, and part of the population is migratory, with a small portion possibly remaining at the breeding sites year-round.

In the tropics, altitudinal migrations are most commonly seen among frugivores or nectarvores, such as what is seen among tropical hummingbirds, which migrate altitudinally in response to shifts in food abundance and availability. This migration pattern has been observed in neotropical birds, but has also been seen in other terrestrial, tropical montane species such as Baird's tapir and white-lipped peccary.Tropical avian species that are altitudinal migrants include the white-ruffed manakin, resplendent quetzal, at least 16 species of raptor, and many species of hummingbird. Altitudinal migration has also been witnessed in some tropical bat species. As of 2014, there is not much information as to why tropical species migrate altitudinally, other than that it may be for food resources or reproduction, as it is for temperate bat species. Altitudinal migration, as a short-distance migration pattern, has been easier to trace than long-distance patterns. Still, while the proximate causes and physiological adaptations for migrations are well understood, determining the ultimate causes have been difficult. This difficulty has been linked to limited success of mark and recapture techniques used to track migratory species.

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