Trumpeter Swan - Number 2T6
(Olor buccinator)
Ducks (Anatidae)

These Trumpeter Swans were photographed along the Des Moines river.
There were a total of six swans in this group that was visiting this area.

Description: 60-72" (1.5-1.8 m). One of North America's largest birds. 
Adult similar to Tundra Swan but larger, with all-black bill. Young birds
dusky gray-brown; bill pink with black base and tip. Mute Swan (Cygnus olor), an introduced species and a tame pond bird, is smaller, with black knob at base of orange bill; holds neck in graceful curve. 

Voice: A bugling ko-hoh, lower-pitched than
Tundra Swan's call. 

Habitat: Marshes, lakes, or rivers with dense vegetation. 

Nesting: 4-6 whitish eggs in a huge nest on a bulrush-covered island or a 
beaver lodge. 

Range: Breeds in southern Alaska, northern British Columbia, western Alberta, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Winters in southeastern Alaska, western British Columbia, and on
open water in United States breeding range. 

Draining of marshes, hunting, and other disturbances, along with a low rate of reproduction, brought the Trumpeter Swan close to extinction by the beginning of this century.
Conservation measures, including reintroductions, have allowed it to increase from a very small number in the 1930s to more than 6,000 today, with 4,500 of these in Alaska.