Tundra Swan

Cygnus columbianus

Order ANSERIFORMES - Family ANATIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

True to its name, the Tundra Swan breeds on the high tundra across the top of North America. It winters in large flocks along both coasts, and is frequently encountered during its migration across the continent.

Cool Facts

• The whistling swan, the American race of the Tundra Swan, currently is considered the same species as the Eurasian race, the Bewick's swan. They were considered separate species in the past, distinguished by the large yellow patches on the face of the Bewick's swan.
• During the breeding season the Tundra Swan sleeps almost entirely on land, but in the winter it sleeps more often on water.

• Swan nests on the tundra are vulnerable to a host of predators, such as foxes, weasels, jaegers, and gulls. If the parents are present, they are able to defend the nest and nestlings from these threats. Wolves, people, and bears, however, are too big to fight, and most incubating swans leave their nests while these large predators are far away. By leaving quickly when large predators approach, the parents may make the nest harder to find.

• The Tundra Swan stays in flocks except when on a breeding territory. Although most swans spread out to breed, a large proportion of the population on the breeding grounds still can be found in flocks. These swans are not breeding, and may be young birds that have not yet bred, adult pairs whose breeding attempts failed, or adults that bred in the past but for some reason do not in that year.

Description

• Size: 120-147 cm (47-58 in)
• Wingspan: 168 cm (66 in)
• Weight: 3800-10500 g (134.14-370.65 ounces)

• Large, all-white waterfowl.
• Long, straight neck.
• Black bill and face.

• Wings pure white.
• Legs black.
• Yellow spot of variable size in front of eye; may be absent.
• Eyes black.
• Black of face constricts in front of eyes.
• U-shaped indentation of white forehead into bill.
• Head rounded.
• Bill slightly concave on top edge.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike, male slightly larger.

Immature

Dirty white all over. Legs gray-pink, turning dull black. Bill pinkish gray, turning black at base and towards tip; turns completely black.

Similar Species

• Trumpeter Swan without yellow spot in front of eyes. Bill profile flat. Eye more connected to black facial skin, without constriction in front of eye. Border of bill and forehead in deep V-shape from above. Voice deeper.
• Mute Swan with curved neck, orange bill.
• Snow Goose smaller and with shorter neck, black wingtips, pink bill.
• Domestic goose smaller, with shorter neck, and pink or orange bill and legs.
• White Pelican has short neck, large yellow or orange bill, orange legs, and black flight feathers.

Sound

Call a goose-like honking.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds along northern coastline from western Alaska to northern Quebec and Nunavut. Also in eastern Siberia.

Winter Range

Winters primarily on Pacific Coast from southern British Columbia to southern California, and along Atlantic Coast from New Jersey southward to South Carolina. Also in interior West and the Great Lakes where open water is available.

Habitat

Breeds on tundra lakes, ponds, and pools along coast. Winters in shallow estuaries, lakes, ponds, and rivers; feeds in agricultural fields.

Food

Aquatic plants, seeds, tubers, grains, some mollusks and arthropods.

Behavior

Foraging

Tips up to reach aquatic vegetation, grazes on grass. Feeds in flocks.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest a large open bowl, made of grasses, sedges, lichens, and moss, lined with only a little down. Usually placed on mound or ridge in tundra.

Egg Description

Creamy white.

Clutch Size

3-5 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Covered with down and eyes open. Leaves nest within 24 hours of hatching and has the ability to swim and feed.

Conservation Status

Common and may be increasing. As a game species, populations managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service.

Other Names

Cygne siffleur (French)
Cisne chiflador (Spanish)
Whistling Swan (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

1. Bellrose, F. C. 1976. Ducks, Geese, and Swans of North America. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA.
2. Limpert, R. J., and S. L. Earnst. 1994. Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus ). In The Birds of North America, No. 89 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.