Feb. 5 - Feb. 11

 This week I had to do a long run on our new treadmill that came with a free year of the program iFit. This program allows you to run virtually with trainers in different locations and your treadmill adjusts the incline and speed as you go. During my run, the instructor began telling a story about an interaction that he had with Mute Swans. As he told this story, I thought that maybe I should write this week about all of the swans I have been seeing this year as they're a very large and beautiful group of birds that are typically associated with love and it's nearing Valentine's day. So, in this post I will be sharing some fun information about our native Trumpeter Swans with my weeks list of birds at the end.

Lone Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) at Lake Wapello State Park.

Trumpeter Swans are our largest native waterfowl species in North America. They can weigh up to about 30 pounds with the average adult weight being 26 pounds. They have a total length of nearly six feet with a wingspan reaching up to a little over eight feet according to some sources (Pough 1951). This large size makes Trumpeter Swans fairly easy to distinguish in large groups of waterfowl or in flight.

 Some features that distinguish them from the Tundra Swan, another native swan species, is their all black bill that has a slightly more long, slender, and sloped shape to it. The calls of these great birds are the best identifying feature though. With their low tone and distinct trumpeting sound, these birds are easy to identify in flight even when they are flying really high up.

On guard as most of the group naps.

Swans are thought to mate for life, but some individuals have been known to seek multiple mates in a season. Some swans that lose their mate never seek another. Mating for life is quite an impressive accomplishment in these long-living birds, with the oldest known wild Trumpeter Swan living at least 26 years and two months and in captivity up to 32 years (allaboutbirds.org).

This species lays between four and six eggs in a nest, but nesting is dependent on there being good beaver and muskrat habitat because they use dens and dams to construct their nests on. This is an interesting inter-species relationship that helps to show how every species in an environment serves a purpose. 

Congregating on the open water at Lake Wapello State Park. 

Trumpeter Swans also present a good conservation story. They were nearly extirpated by the late 1800's, with small populations holding on in Yellowstone and Northern Canada. At one time the total breeding population was thought to be only 69 individuals. They were hunted and their feathers used in the fashion industry in women's hats and as quill pens. Their skin was also used for powder puffs. Today their populations are rebounding with some estimates of a global breeding population of 63,000 birds (allaboutbirds.org).

Likely breeding pair wading in a local city park.

I have felt very fortunate this year to observe this species as much as I have been able to. When living in Kansas, Trumpeter Swans were always a species that I always seemed to be just a little behind on their migrations. Here in Iowa we have a great wintering population thanks to all of our lakes, ponds, and rivers. They also seem to enjoy foraging on the dropped corn in fields.

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This week I observed 27 species. A list of species observed follows:

1. Rock Pigeon (invasive)
2. Red-bellied Woodpecker
3. Blue Jay
4. American Crow
5. Black-capped Chickadee
6. Tufted Titmouse
7. House Sparrow (invasive)
8. House Finch
9. Canada Goose
10. Mallard
11. Common Goldeneye
12. Common Merganser
13. Ring-billed Gull
14. Bald Eagle
15. European Starling (invasive)
16. Dark-eyed Junco
17. Greater White-fronted Goose
18. Trumpeter Swan
19. Mourning Dove
20. Killdeer
21. Red-tailed Hawk
22. Downy Woodpecker
23. Northern Flicker (yellow shafted)
24. White-breasted Nuthatch
25. Northern Cardinal
26. Barred Owl
27. American Tree Sparrow

Sources for todays post:

Audubon Water Bird Guide, Richard Pough, 1951 (Pough 1951)

allaboutbirds.org (allaboutbirds.org)