 |
The Trumpeter Swan, largest
of all North American waterfowl, measures up to 4 feet, weighs between
20-30 pounds, and has a wingspan of up to 8 feet. |
|
|
| |
The swans must remain near
open water to obtain their preferred diet of aquatic plants. Their
staple diet includes: waterweed, pondweed, water milfoil and duck
potato. A mature adult will consume up to 20 pounds of wet herbage
each day! They also feed occasionally on grain, seeds, freshwater
invertebrates, snails and worms. |
|
|
| |
Trumpeter Swans mate for life.
Their intricate wooing rituals include a ritualized display of slow
synchronized swimming, bill-dipping and blowing in the water. |
|
|
| |
The female Trumpeter Swan is
known as the pen and the male as the cob. Newborn swans are called
cygnets. |
|
|
| |
After spring mating, the pair
builds a nest. The swans uproot plants in a large ring and build
in the center, leaving plenty of open water all around for good
visibility. The nests measure about 6-7- feet in diameter at the
base and rise 1 1/2 feet above the waterline. Considerable trumpeting
and display by both parents usually accompanies the laying of eggs.
The pen incubates them for approximately 5 weeks. |
|
|
| |
Cygnets generally hatch in
mid-June and are paddling on the water within a day or two. They
eat insects, crustaceans and aquatic beetles for their first month,
staying close to the parents' puddling (rapid paddling) which stirs
up the bottom morsels. Playful and energetic, the cygnets frequently
dash about and dive under the water, uttering their breathy little
peeps all the while. Nights are spent on the nest with the parents
for the first month of life. |
|
|
| |
Trumpeter swans are extremely
sensitive to many human activities and development in or near their
habitats. Only a limited amount of suitable habitat exists in the
region that is used regularly by trumpeters for breeding and wintering
activities. Historically, the swans used the vast midsection of
North America for Breeding and wintering (see map below). These
areas have been significantly reduced due to human development. |
 |
|
|
| |
Before European settlement,
as many as 150,000 trumpeter swans populated the Eastern United
States. By the end of the 19th century, they were all gone, victims
of pioneer settlers who wanted their meat, or of hatters, who wanted
their feathers! |
|
|
| |
Trumpeter swans are wild birds
and are not to be approached at close range. An adult bird, when
threatened, attacks the intruder with its wings. These large birds
have been known to beat a man to death when defending their nest.
|
|
|
| |
"It's an absolutely stunning
sight, on a fall morning, in the fog, to see this pure white bird
with its black bill," says Sumner Matteson, an avian ecologist
with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) who is
participating in a reintroduction project. "In these still
mornings, it has one of the most haunting calls you'll ever hear."
|
Back to Archives Page 