Trumpeter Swans Trumpeter Swan Information The Trumpeter Swan

Trumpeter Swans

Trumpeter Swan Information: • The Trumpeter Swan is the largest waterfowl species native to North America. • Most Trumpeters weigh 21 -30 pounds, although large males may exceed 35 pounds. • The male is called a cob; the female is called a pen; the young swans up to one year of age are called "cygnets".

Trumpeter Swan Information: • With a wingspan over 7 feet, these snow- white birds are truly spectacular. Standing on the ground, an adult Trumpeter stands about 4 feet high. • Trumpeter Swans mate for life and may live for 20 to 30 years.

Can you find the Trumpeter Swan?

Did you get it correct? • If you picked the second swan you are correct. • The first one is a Mute Swan, and the second bird is a Tundra Swan.

History of Trumpeter Swans: • Trumpeter Swans were once fairly common throughout • most of the northern United States and Canada. They were almost completely extinct due to hunting and the trade market. By 1900, it was widely believed that the species had become extinct. Fortunately, a small non-migratory population survived in the remote mountain valleys of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Two nests were found in Yellowstone National Park in 1919; and in 1932, 69 Trumpeters were documented in the region. We now know that a population of several thousand Trumpeters also survived in remote parts of Alaska and Canada.

Trumpeter Swans Today: • The Trumpeter Swans • are now protected. They can no longer be hunted throughout their regions. Their population is slowly beginning to increase.

Trumpeter Swans and their nest: • Nest-building begins in mid-April and may take up to two • • weeks. The nests may reach a diameter of 6 feet or more. Trumpeters build their nests on top of muskrat or beaver lodges, or they pile sedges and cattail tubers into a mound. The cob uproots the vegetation and transfers it to the pen, who piles it high, then uses her body to form a depression for the eggs. The same nest structure may be used from one year to the next. Water usually surrounds the nest making it difficult for a predator to surprise the swans.

Trumpeter Swans and their nest: • When the pen leaves the nest, she covers the eggs with • • nest material. The cob stands guard on or near the nest to deter predators. Intruding swans or predators are vigorously chased away. The adults perform a "triumph display" after intruders are repelled. Facing one another, they quiver their wings and trumpet loudly. When the cygnets hatch in June, they weigh about 7 ounces. After a day or two, they take to the water to feed on insects.

References: • http: //www. dnr. state. wi. us/org/land/er/fa ctsheets/birds/swan. htm • http: //www. nps. gov/yell/nature/animals/bi rds/trumpeter. htm • http: //www. trumpeterswansociety. org/id. h tm