The first successful nesting in Illinois in 150 yearsmarks the return of the trumpeter swan.

Heralding an ArrivalStory By Sheryl DeVore

A s the sun hinted its rising,Eric Walters drove slowlyacross a bridge arching overa 35-acre wetland near an oldrailroad yard in Carroll Coun-

ty. Binoculars at the ready, Walterslooked to the open water surroundedby aquatic vegetation near the town ofSavanna. One swan was swimmingwhile another sat nearby atop an aban-doned muskrat lodge. The swan on thelodge lifted her wings above the nestand revealed…four eggs.

She stood up, gently turned theeggs with her bill, and then settledback down on the lodge. Confirmed!May 29, 2006. Those four eggs meantthe swan was a confirmed nester inthe state. This wasn’t just any swan. Itwas Cygnus buccinator, a trumpeter

swan, which hadn’t bred in Illinois forat least 150 years.

“It was not lost on me,” said Walters,“that it was sunrise, and this was thedawning of a new era for the trumpeterswan in Illinois.” Indeed, the pair oftrumpeter swans returned and success-fully reared young at the same wetlandin 2007, while a second pair of trum-peter swans produced five young on anearby marsh.

“One of the most inspiring conserva-tion success stories in recent years maybe that of the trumpeter swan,” saidSouthern Illinois University avianresearcher Dana Varner.

The trumpeter swan is the largest ofall North American waterfowl and thelargest swan in the world. Its wings,adorned with snowy white feathers,spread up to 8 feet wide (comparedwith the 3.5-foot wide wing spread of

the snow goose). A deep-black bill con-trasts with its white feathers. Theswan’s long neck, used to dip into thewater to retrieve aquatic delicacies,sometimes get stained with a rustycolor if iron is in the water. It gets itsname from the brassy trumpet-likesound given when alarmed or to attracta mate and guard its territory.

Historically, the trumpeter swan, amigratory species, occurred across

This trumpeter swan pair, with

two chicks swimming in a Carroll

County wetland, represent the

beginning of a new era in Illinois.

The swans began nesting in Illinois

in 2006 after a 150-year absence.

(Photo courtesy Eric Walters.)

May 2008 OutdoorIllinois / 9

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much of the northern United States andCanada. During pre-settlement times,the trumpeter swan was an uncommonbut regular breeder in backwatersloughs and marshes along Illinois’ larg-er river valleys. Pairs often chose oldmuskrat lodges, and the femaleattached cattail stalks to the lodges tocreate a bed for her cygnets. The trum-peter swans likely began migrating totheir Illinois breeding grounds inMarch, and left by November forwarmer climes.

As the swan’s wetland habitat gotfilled in and the demand grew for itsmeat, eggs and feathers (to adornEuropean ladies’ hats), the populationplummeted. By the end of the 19thcentury, this species was thought tohave become extirpated from the Unit-ed States.

But after a wild population of breed-ing swans was discovered in Alaska inthe 1950s, conservation efforts toreturn them to the Midwest and otherparts of the country began. In the1980s, Wisconsin, Ohio and Michiganstarted rearing young swans in captivityand releasing them at select wetlands,hoping adults would locate one anotherand nest. Brookfield and Lincoln Parkzoos in Illinois next joined the crusade.

Cygnets bred there were released instates near Illinois, including Iowa. Bythe early 21st century, Wisconsin had atleast 96 pairs of trumpeter swans breed-ing in the wild. It was about time thisbird decided to set up shop in Illinois.

And well they should, according toDan Wenny, an avian biologist with theIllinois Natural History Survey. Thoughsome controversy swirls about whetherto reintroduce this species to certain

An adult trumpeter swan pair

guards its chicks at the same

Carroll County site where it

returned to nest in 2007.

(Photo courtesy Barbara and

Lawrence Casey.)

Trumpeter swans lay 4-6 eggs, and

cygnets hatch after 33-37 days of

incubation. As adults, these swans

can have an 8-foot wing span.

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May 2008 OutdoorIllinois / 11

and both were released in eastern Iowa.All four eggs hatched into fluffy balls ofgray. In September, only one youngswan had survived and by October, thefamily was gone for the winter.

The pair returned to the same site in2007, tidied their nest and producedfour more young. INHS biologist RandyNÿboer discovered a second pair oftrumpeter swans that produced fivecygnets in a nearby marsh.

“Only one of the pair had a collar,”said Nÿboer, who finds it exciting that aswan born in the wild had mated withone that had been released.

Trumpeter swans will need morethan just good breeding habitat and

parts of the Midwest, Wenny is quick tosay, “This bird belongs in Illinois. It ispart of our historical avifauna.”

Birders and state officials had beenseeing signs for the past several yearsthat the trumpeter swan might begin tonest in Illinois again. But no potentialpairs produced young until that lateMay date in 2006. Both swans werebanded, indicating one was born in cap-tivity in 2003 and the other in 2004,

reintroduction programs to survive inthe wild. First, if the birds choose notto migrate, which well they might, theymay not find enough food to eat in win-ter. Secondly, though lead shot hasbeen banned, much of it still remainslodged at the bottom of wetlandswhere the swans feed.

“Lead poisoning looms as the singlegreatest threat to the reestablishment totrumpeter swans in the Midwest,” saidWisconsin avian ecologist Sumner Mat-teson.

Nÿboer says one of the only pair oftrumpeters released in Illinois diedfrom lead poisoning from fishingsinkers. The other swan was removedand taken to Iowa. “We have to be verycareful about where we release thesebirds,” he said.

Their survival may be tenuous, butthree successful nests in Illinois in thepast two years—after a 150-yearabsence—hopefully points to betterdays ahead for trumpeter swans inIllinois.

Sheryl DeVore is chief editor of the

Meadowlark, published by the Illinois

Ornithological Society and author of

three books including “Birds of Illinois.”

Besides the trumpeter swan, twoother swan species occur in Illi-

nois. The tundra swan (Cygnuscolumbianus) has not historically nest-ed in Illinois, but uses the rivers andlakes during migration. Tundra swansspend winters on the East Coast andnest in Canada and the arctic. Thespecies is smaller than the trumpeterand the adult has a yellow marking infront of its eyes.

The mute swan (Cygnus olor) is anintroduced species, native to Eurasia.The adult has an orange bill with bul-bous black knob at the base of the bill.

A trumpeter swan on her nest in

Carroll County in 2006. Hopefully,

scenes like this will become more

common in Illinois.

Neck collars are used to

track the migratory patterns of

captive-bred swans.

(Photo courtesy Joan Bade.)

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