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The Trumpeter Swan Society

Check out our United States Swan links for great information about Trumpeter Swans

Swan Links

Photograph by Matt Hegwood. Aerial view of wintering Michigan Trumpeter Swans

Swan Links- United States

Below: States are in alphabetical order

Alaska

  • Explore and learn about the early discovery of wild trumpeter swan populations in Alaska, and the survey to find out the extent and location of their Alaska breeding habitat, and their migration and much more. For the science and history buff.

  • Learn about the exciting 1954-1955 discovery of nesting trumpeter swans in the Lower Copper River Basin. This includes a first hand account of observing trumpeter swans in Alaska, when it was thought the nearest nesting swans were in Alberta, Canada. It was examination of abandoned eggs in nests that confirmed the species. by Melvin A. Monson

Arkansas

Idaho

  • Nesting swans are on Silver lake. Harriman State Park is also an important wintering site for Trumpeter Swans.

  • Learn about the park’s role as a sanctuary for nesting trumpeter swans and a crucial wintering ground for Rocky Mountain swans from the USA and Canada.
    • Discover the impact of extreme weather and efforts to rescue and relocate swans during harsh conditions in 1988 and 1989.
    • Learn about vital aquatic foods for swans.
    • Planning a trip? Find out what Harriman State Park and its surroundings offer visitors, just an hour's drive from Yellowstone National Park.
    Presenters:
    Dr. Jeff Snyder, North American Representative, Swan Specialist Group; Dr. Gary Ivey, Past President of the Trumpeter Swan Society and Leader of the Oregon Restoration Project; Kyle Babbitt, P&R Ranger-Interpretation/Education, Harriman State Park of Idaho, Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation

  • Information about the status of Trumpeter Swans is found in Appendix F, pages 34-35

Iowa

Maryland

Michigan

Minnesota

  • This article appeared in the Bemidji Pioneer in June 2018.

  • Here is the story about the very beginnings of Minnesota's Trumpeter Swan restoration. It all began in the mid 1960s in Hennepin County Parks, now known as Three Rivers Park District

  • In this webinar recording, you will to gain a deeper understanding of trumpeter swans- how they nest, raise families and pioneer into new areas, AND learn

    • How Hennepin Parks began the state’s efforts and founded the Trumpeter Swan Society
    • How Minnesota created a plan to restore trumpeter swans
    • How Alaska and zoos became key players in the quest for eggs and cygnets
    • How Minnesota trumpeter swans became a national ‘media star’
    • Where Minnesota swans are pioneering into new areas outside of the state that have had no swans for over a century
    • and much more!

    Presented by: Carrol Henderson, Minnesota wildlife biologist and retired MN Department of Natural Resources Non-Game Wildlife Program leader. Carrol Henderson has been involved in the restoration of Minnesota swans for 41 years and has lots of stories and information to share.

  • Many of the parks and preserves in Three Rivers Park District have Trumpeter Swans at some point during the year. Call to find out where they are during your visit to the Twin Cities.

Missouri

  • Discover the captivating history of overwintering Trumpeter Swans at the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary near St. Louis, Missouri. Dive into their significance in the Mississippi flyway. Learn how swans are monitored and counted at Riverlands and when the best times are to see swans. Discover the broad array of swan programs and experiences offered at this Audubon center to thousands of visitors each year. And much more!

    Speakers:
    Tara Hohman, Conservation Science Manager, National Audubon Society: Upper Mississippi River
    Emily Connor, Education Manager, National Audubon Society: Audubon Center
    Tyler Goble, Wildlife Biologist, Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Stewardship Team
    Paul Moffett, Trumpeter Swan Society Member and Monitoring Volunteer

  • The Audubon Center at Riverlands, at the confluence area of the Missouri and Mississippi River near St. Louis, has the largest wintering population of Trumpeter Swans outside of Minnesota. The Center's Great River Trumpeter Watch, started in partnership with TTSS in 2011, tracks wintering swans including marked swans.

  • Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge has several hundred wintering swans each winter, sometimes numbering over 1,000.

Montana

  • Discover the pivotal role this wild and beautiful refuge played in saving trumpeter swans.

    The remote Centennial Valley is on the north side of the Continental Divide, in Southwest Montana. It is a vast, high elevation, nearly intact, landscape of forest, sagebrush steppe, wet meadow, and the largest wetland complex in the 20 million-acre Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

    The Red Rock Lakes NWR was established in the Valley in 1935 by President Franklin Roosevelt to save what was believed to be the nearly extinct trumpeter swan. In addition to helping save the swan, the result has been extraordinary conservation of other iconic wildlife on the brink in the Yellowstone Region.

    Presenter: Bill West, Retired Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Manager
    1 hr, 11 minutes

  • This appeared as a report at the second North American Wildlife Conference in 1936. The collective efforts of all involved have brought Trumpeter Swans a long, long way since then. Read about the early efforts at Red Rock Lakes.

  • Includes maps of swan sightings

  • Red Rock Lakes was established in the 1930s specifically to protect Trumpeter Swans. This beautiful refuge has been at the heart of the return of the Trumpeter Swan to North America. Cygnets from Red Rock Lakes NWR were used in early swan restorations in the Midwest, as well as being shared with zoos to preserve the species.

  • Southwest Montana's Centennial Valley is crucially important to the survival of Trumpeter Swans that nest in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. During summer 2011, The Trumpeter Swan Society funded monitoring and research at over 30 historic nesting territories on private ranches and public lands west of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.

Nebraska

Ohio

Oregon

  • Summer Lake Wildlife Area is the site of the Trumpeter Swan releases for the Oregon Restoration Project, a partnership between TTSS, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Summer Lake is also a wintering site for swans as well as a rest stop for migrating Tundra and Trumpeter Swans.

  • In February 2023, a dozen swans were captured and received GPS collars at Oregon’s Summer Lake Wildlife Area and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Biologists wanted to know where these swans spend the summer, their migration routes in spring and fall, and if they raised families.

    Learn how and where the swans were captured and collared. Then we explore some of the results, teaching you how to use GoogleEarth and the GPS data to discover:
    • How to see the wetlands where the swans were captured and collared.
    • How to do simple calculations like a biologist to determine flight speed, temperatures, distances and altitude.
    Presenters:
    Dr. Gary Ivey, Trumpeter Swan Society Oregon Restoration Project leader
    Brandon Reishus, Migratory Game Bird Coordinator, Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
    Martin St. Louis, Retired Manager, Summer Lake Wildlife Area

South Dakota

  • Lacreek NWR began the first restoration of Trumpeter Swans in the Midwest, beginning in the 1960s. Their original swans came from Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. The descendants of the Lacreek flock are now the High Plains Flock and extend as far south as Nebraska

Washington

Wisconsin

  • Map of sites where eggs were collected in Alaska, 1997
    Map of sites where eggs were collected in Alaska, 1997

    Rod King map, September 9 1997

    Minto Flats, Alaska

    This is the September 9, 1997 Trumpeter Swan survey map by USFWS Alaska biologist and pilot Rodney King.

    Background:

    In June 1997, Rod King flew Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources biologists Sumner Matteson, Randy Jurewicz and Jim Hoefler to nest sites on the Minto Flats, Alaska. This was Wisconsin’s final year of egg collection for its Trumpeter Swan restoration program.  In June, 60 eggs were collected over 7 hours—45 for Wisconsin’s swan restoration program and 15 for Iowa’s swan restoration program.

    On September 9, 1997, at the end of summer and before cygnets had fledged, Rod King and his wife Charlotte flew an aerial survey of  the lakes and wetlands on the Minto Flats to record how many pairs, surviving cygnets and other swans were there. This is the map of the September 9, 1997 aerial survey.

    Observations included family groups (i.e., nesting pairs that had hatched cygnets and still had surviving cygnets) that were most likely observed on the same lake or wetland on which they nested. 

    Swan singles, pairs, and flocks (3 or more swans) that were observed on September 9, 1997 were also recorded on this map.

    This survey confirmed that Trumpeter Swan cygnet productivity was not negatively impacted by the egg collection that summer.

    Key:

    The numbers on the map and in the margins, from 1-56, are the numbered locations where Trumpeter Swans were observed on the September 9, 1997 aerial survey. The numbers and letters in the margin record the family groups, swan singles, pairs and flocks at each numbered location on the map (see key explanation below).

    The pencil dot on the map at the numbered swan location is the exact spot where swans were spotted on September 9, 1997.

    In the margin, the key is:

    PR = swan pair

    PR + number = swan pair and number of cygnets

    S= single swan

    FLK = flock of swans.  Any number next to FLK is the number of swans seen in that flock.

    The pencil loops on the map indicate the flight path.

Wyoming

  • "Educating One Pond Owner at a Time"

  • Discover the rich history of trumpeter swans in Yellowstone, a haven celebrated for its unique geothermal wonders and charismatic wildlife. Journey through the ebbs and flows of swan populations within the park, from their flourishing numbers before the 1960s to the challenges faced in recent decades.

    Learn about Yellowstone's proactive conservation strategies and ongoing research endeavors aimed at ensuring the enduring presence of the iconic trumpeter swan within its boundaries.

    Presenters:
    David Haines, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park
    Douglas Smith, National Park Service (retired), Yellowstone National Park

  • Powerpoint presentation created by David Lockman of one of the first range expansion project for the Rocky Mountain Population of Trumpeter Swans conducted in Wyoming in the 1980's. This is a presentation he gave on April 21, 2022 to the Star Valley Historical Society in NW Wyoming

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