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Tundra Swan
Scientific Name:
Cygnus columbianus
Type:
Bird
Habitat:
Tundra areas during breeding and nesting season, coastal areas and inland waterways (lakes, estuaries, wetlands) otherwise
Range:
Throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In the United States they are seen in northwest coastal states, Northern Great Basin and Rocky Mountain states, Alaska, and mid Atlantic coastal states
Status:
Least Concern (IUCN Red List)
This species is
NATIVE
to the Truckee Meadows.
Identification:
Tundra swans are considered large birds with very long necks poised on heavier bodies. They have pure white feathers, black legs and feet, and black bills. Some Tundra swans have been noted to have a small patch of yellow at the base of their bills. A Tundra swan can have a nearly six foot wingspan. When they are not nesting they are usually observed in large flocks. Some migrating flocks contain up to 100 swans. Tundra swans are found on and near lakes, ponds, estuaries and wetlands. They have been observed feeding in agricultural fields as they mostly eat plant matter from those fields and from the water areas they inhabit. Tundra swans also eat arthropods and mollusks.
Fast Facts:
Tundra swans have been observed using their feet to paddle in waters near nest sites to dig up food from the bottom for their young to eat.
Tundra swans mate for life and spend the year together. When it is time to make the nest, they work together to build the home for the future hatchlings. They are ground nesters.
The North American Tundra Swan is also called the Whistling Swan. Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis and Clark) identified a whistling noise in the wings of these great birds and first used this name.
Tundra swans breed in the arctic, mostly in remote areas.
Tundra Swans have been observed in parks throughout the Truckee Meadows where there are larger ponds and waterways. Swan Lake Nature Study Area is an especially good place to spot them during winter.
Sources:
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds, Tundra Swan, website, 2021. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tundra_Swan
Audubon Society, Audubon Field Guide to Birds, Tundra Swan, website, 2021. https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/tundra-swan
IUCN Red list, Tundra Swan, last assessed 2016, website, 2021. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22679862/89644875
Image credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region, https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsnortheast/50974057736/in/photolist-2kEpnsq-999zge-2eZCoVZ-24oaJYR-5MNaAu-2eV3aib-RxTcLQ-2iERKjN-2iEVYBv-2iEVYDK-SLNgBm-AD6p76-6PYyTN-2ivpePj-Nuktxp-P6dun5-2ivqtRg-CH8QHZ-BKBWU5-214w4La-yMWc9k-w5b3cp-m5gU2z-Etw7Nc-CHertk-b1do7R-G84fFD-GCmeDh-dszyPt-9TzQp-EPHGDF-LWYHjF-9J27A3-2kqnjd9-xPNhr-9HYg7x-2kRJABw-9J27v5-9J27mm-pACFg2-fuKVUN-2ask3E9-LSUhSs-be4Q46-LSUkUE-2kVS8PY-pGgAkn-G1wZox-oesRn2-79GTf6, public domain, cropped from original.
Contributor(s):
Caron Tayloe (research & content)
Rachel Carroll (edits & page design)