Hot off the press! Tundra swans, previously known as whistling swans, are being seen on Chautauqua Lake. First, friends reported a large flock north near Chautauqua. Now, a small flock is reported in front of Shore Acres Boat Yard near Bemus Point. The Buffalo Ornithological Society published in 2002 that these birds had been recorded in the Niagara frontier region from late October through June.
This is a very big deal, because these almost all-white, long-necked birds normally live in the tundra. In the summer, they don't live in Alaska or the lower provinces of Canada. They live in the tundra north of the Arctic Circle and west of Greenland and Iceland. However, they don't see Santa Claus up there because they winter on the east coast of the United States from Maryland to South Carolina.
Did you notice that they just don't winter here? So why are we seeing them now? Chautauqua Lake is not frozen. Aha! It's like our staying in a motel on a long trip. Just as humans take advantage of motels with nearby restaurants, tundra swans enjoy eating the aquatic vegetation and aquatic invertebrates.
A sentinel stands guard over adult and juvenile tundra swans as they take a break on Chautauqua Lake in mid-November during their long migration.
P-J photo by Cristie Herbst
How on Earth do you think that they can raise a family north of the Arctic Circle? Yes, they breed, lay eggs and raise young in that cold weather. Actually, they wait until May and June when more food for the young is available. The young mostly eat aquatic invertebrates. In early summer, there are lots of mosquitoes, blackflies, butterflies and other invertebrates. The tundra swan young are born just when those insects are in their aquatic stages. The adults are challenged to court, mate and nest before winter storms play havoc.
Like 90 percent of all birds, tundra swans are monogamous. Some monogamous birds, like house wrens, bond for just one nesting. Most passerines, including songbirds that perch in a tree, stay together for a whole season. Robins, tree swallows and mourning doves stay together for several years. Then some mate for life. Besides swans, this group includes albatrosses, petrels, geese, eagles, and some owls and parrots.
How do the male and female tundra swans divvy up the chores? We know that the males choose the nesting site. More research needs to be done on who does what with these birds. Birders could greatly help by reporting behaviors to Cornell School of Ornithology.
We need to compare the physical features of tundra and trumpeter swans, which are easily mistaken for each other. This might be a year when we could see both. Tundra swans are about 53 inches long. Their wings are completely white and they have very long necks. The bill of the adult is black with a small yellow spot at its base. If you can see the bills of these birds, the trumpeter swan does not have a spot at the base of its bill.
The trumpeter swan is larger. In fact it is the largest of all the waterfowl in the United States. In the wild, they have been known to live up to 24 years.
These birds bond with a partner when they are 3 or 4 years old. They stay together for a year, even in migration. It is thought that they mate for life. However, some do take on a new partner in their lives. Research does show that some males, who have lost their mates, do not take on a new mate.
Like the tundras, the trumpeters eat aquatic vegetation, but the former swans also add grasses and grains to their diet. You might see them in a field.
You will find these birds in the same habitats as the tundra swans. They breed in freshwater marshes and along ponds and lakes.
Again the Buffalo Ornithological Society, in 2002, reported that trumpeter swans had recently been reintroduced in northeast North America. That was 10 years ago. If all went well, we could be seeing them a lot more. Previously, it was a western bird. Again, keep checking open water. Finding a swan is a very special treat.