Trumpeter Swans In Illinois

Trumpeter Swans: Another rare bird species for Shannon

On April 20, North America’s largest, and in many ways most spectacular, waterfowl paid a visit to Shannon’s sewage lagoon. Therein lies a tale.

It is a fact known to birdwatchers and photographers alike that the plethora of insect larva in and around sewage treatment facilities is irresistible to many bird species. But finding the majestic Trumpeter Swans was a real treat for Ken Groezinger of Shannon, who took the accompanying photos. The Trumpeter Swans, apparently immature birds, join the Snowy Owl as the second rare bird species to have visited the Shannon area in 2011.

The Trumpeter Swan is remarkable in several ways. First there is its size. Males average around 27 pounds and have been recorded to weigh as much as 35 pounds. Females average a mere 22 pounds, but even this is about 3 times the weight of the familiar Canada Goose.

While less vocal than its closest relative, the Tundra Swan, the trumpeter’s vocalizations are much lower in pitch. The trachea, or windpipe, is folded back on itself and imbedded in a special sternal groove. This convolution has the effect of lengthening the vibrating air column, thus producing what Arthur Cleveland Bent described as a “louder and more far-reaching note on a lower key, with the musical resonance of a French horn.”

Remarkable as this bird is for its size, grace and beauty, its history is even more so. Fossil bones from the state of Oregon indicate that the species has been around at least 300,000 years. Studies confirm that when humans first reached the New World, they began hunting the swan. Archeological sites in Alaska, Illinois, Iowa and Ohio have found evidence that the trumpeter was hunted widely. Hunters who arrived with European settlement nearly finished them off.

Nearly, but not quite. Trumpeters once nested in the wetlands of the open northern forest and forest-prairie borders and wintered throughout the South and along the eastern and southern coasts. James Fisher, author of Wildlife in Danger, noted that “the dark ages of the Trumpeter were dark enough.” By 1810 they no longer nested in Missouri, 1840 for Wisconsin and British Columbia, 1883 for Indiana and Nebraska, Minnesota in 1885, and by 1890 they were locally extinct in western Alaska, the northern Yukon, Mackenzie, Saskatchewan, and the Hudson Bay regions of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. In North Dakota they nested until 1895 and in Washington State until 1918. By 1932, 57 adults in the U.S. reared a dozen cygnets in and around the headwaters of the Yellowstone River. The swan population that had wintered on the eastern seaboard had been killed off by hunting and habitat alteration.

Northern Illinois Birder: Trumpeter Swans

As I stated in my Oct. 10 post on this blog ( http://northernillinoisbirder.blogspot.com/2010/10/trumpeter-swan.html  ), Trumpeter Swans have been revived from near extinction and are now found in healthy populations in and around many of the Great Lakes.  The Zoological Society of Lincoln Park has been very active in helping the Trumpeter Swans be reestablished in Illinois. Two Trumpeter Swans were bred and released into the wild by the Zoo which was founded in 1868 when the Lincoln Park Commissioners were given a gift of a pair of these majestic swans. In 1874, the swans were joined by a bear cub, the first animal purchased for the zoo. The Trumpeters get their names because they (both males and females) give off a loud and deep honking calls that sound like a bugle or trumpet. Sometimes they trumpet once, and sometimes twice. When two trumpeter swans greet each other they set off a great, loud display of honking and spreading their wings. All this noise is produced in its voice box - called a "syrinx." - which is so long it coils around the swans’ breast bone. Hello, I have always been interested in birds, undoubtedly influenced by my mother and grandmother. As a young boy I remember paging through my parents' bird books. Both my Mom and Grandmother would identify birds by both their songs and their looks. I enjoy nature and being out in it as often as I am able. Being a teacher helps - as I have much of the summer to do just that. I have done some nature and wildlife photography, but until about two years ago I never really thought about photographing birds thinking that it would be too difficult - too small and too flighty. After a few thousand photos (Thank God for Digital Cameras), my girlfriend suggested that I open a blog sharing some of the pictures that I have taken and hopefully will be taking in the future.

Winter ecology of trumpeter swans in Southern Illinois

Land of big rivers, French & Indian Illinois, 1699-1778

Illinois archaeology, journal of the Illinois Archaeological Survey

Survival and foraging ecology of interior population trumpeter swans

Boys' Life