ABSTRACT
The Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, was formerly distributed widely across the midcontinent. Now some 80% of trumpeters nest in Alaska, with remnant populations at several locations in the Rocky Mountains, western Canada, and at several National Wildlife Refuges. Both swans defend large breeding territories and are normally seen in summer as single birds, pairs, pairs with nest or brood on territory, or as nonbreeding flocks of three to several hundred individuals. Family groups stay together through the winter, and the grey young are easily identified in contrast with their white parents. Because of these characteristics, swans perhaps more than any other bird lend themselves to observation from light airplanes. They do not fly at the approach of airplanes as geese normally do.
