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

Heralding an Arrival

Story By Sheryl DeVore swan, which hadn’t bred in Illinois for This trumpeter swan pair, with at least 150 years. two chicks swimming in a Carroll s the sun hinted its rising, “It was not lost on me,” said Walters, County wetland, represent the Eric Walters drove slowly “that it was sunrise, and this was the across a bridge arching over dawning of a new era for the trumpeter beginning of a new era in Illinois. a 35-acre wetland near an old swan in Illinois.” Indeed, the pair of The swans began nesting in Illinois A railroad yard in Carroll Coun - trumpeter swans returned and success - in 2006 after a 150-year absence. ty. Binoculars at the ready, Walters fully reared young at the same wetland (Photo courtesy Eric Walters.) looked to the open water surrounded in 2007, while a second pair of trum - by aquatic vegetation near the town of peter swans produced five young on a Savanna. One swan was swimming nearby marsh. the snow goose). A deep-black bill con - while another sat nearby atop an aban - “One of the most inspiring conserva - trasts with its white feathers. The doned muskrat lodge. The swan on the tion success stories in recent years may swan’s long neck, used to dip into the lodge lifted her wings above the nest be that of the trumpeter swan,” said water to retrieve aquatic delicacies, and revealed…four eggs. Southern Illinois University avian sometimes get stained with a rusty She stood up, gently turned the researcher Dana Varner. color if iron is in the water. It gets its eggs with her bill, and then settled The trumpeter swan is the largest of name from the brassy trumpet-like back down on the lodge. Confirmed! all North American waterfowl and the sound given when alarmed or to attract May 29, 2006. Those four eggs meant largest swan in the world. Its wings, a mate and guard its territory. the swan was a confirmed nester in adorned with snowy white feathers, Historically, the trumpeter swan, a the state. This wasn’t just any swan. It spread up to 8 feet wide (compared migratory species, occurred across was Cygnus buccinator , a trumpeter with the 3.5-foot wide wing spread of May 2008 Outdoor Illinois / 9 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.)

much of the northern United States and But after a wild population of breed - Cygnets bred there were released in Canada. During pre-settlement times, ing swans was discovered in Alaska in states near Illinois, including Iowa. By the trumpeter swan was an uncommon the 1950s, conservation efforts to the early 21st century, Wisconsin had at but regular breeder in backwater return them to the Midwest and other least 96 pairs of trumpeter swans breed - sloughs and marshes along Illinois’ larg - parts of the country began. In the ing in the wild. It was about time this er river valleys. Pairs often chose old 1980s, Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan bird decided to set up shop in Illinois. muskrat lodges, and the female started rearing young swans in captivity And well they should, according to attached cattail stalks to the lodges to and releasing them at select wetlands, Dan Wenny, an avian biologist with the create a bed for her cygnets. The trum - hoping adults would locate one another Illinois Natural History Survey. Though peter swans likely began migrating to and nest. Brookfield and Lincoln Park some controversy swirls about whether their Illinois breeding grounds in zoos in Illinois next joined the crusade. to reintroduce this species to certain March, and left by November for ) . y

warmer climes. e s a C

As the swan’s wetland habitat got e c n e r

filled in and the demand grew for its w a L d

meat, eggs and feathers (to adorn n a a r

European ladies’ hats), the population a b r a B

plummeted. By the end of the 19th y s e t r century, this species was thought to u o c o t have become extirpated from the Unit - o h P ed States. (

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.

10 / Outdoor Illinois May 2008 esides the trumpeter swan, two B other swan species occur in Illi - nois. The tundra swan ( Cygnus columbianus ) has not historically nest - ed in Illinois, but uses the rivers and lakes during migration. Tundra swans spend winters on the East Coast and nest in Canada and the arctic. The species is smaller than the trumpeter and the adult has a yellow marking in front of its eyes. The mute swan ( Cygnus olor) is an introduced species, native to Eurasia. The adult has an orange bill with bul - bous black knob at the base of the bill. parts of the Midwest, Wenny is quick to and both were released in eastern Iowa. Neck collars are used to say, “This bird belongs in Illinois. It is All four eggs hatched into fluffy balls of track the migratory patterns of part of our historical avifauna.” gray. In September, only one young captive-bred swans. Birders and state officials had been swan had survived and by October, the seeing signs for the past several years family was gone for the winter. (Photo courtesy Joan Bade.) that the trumpeter swan might begin to The pair returned to the same site in nest in Illinois again. But no potential 2007, tidied their nest and produced reintroduction programs to survive in pairs produced young until that late four more young. INHS biologist Randy the wild. First, if the birds choose not May date in 2006. Both swans were Nÿboer discovered a second pair of to migrate, which well they might, they banded, indicating one was born in cap - trumpeter swans that produced five may not find enough food to eat in win - tivity in 2003 and the other in 2004, cygnets in a nearby marsh. ter. Secondly, though lead shot has “Only one of the pair had a collar,” been banned, much of it still remains A trumpeter swan on her nest in said Nÿboer, who finds it exciting that a lodged at the bottom of wetlands swan born in the wild had mated with where the swans feed. Carroll County in 2006. Hopefully, one that had been released. “Lead poisoning looms as the single scenes like this will become more Trumpeter swans will need more greatest threat to the reestablishment to common in Illinois. than just good breeding habitat and trumpeter swans in the Midwest,” said Wisconsin avian ecologist Sumner Mat - ) .

s teson. r e t l a Nÿboer says one of the only pair of W c i r

E trumpeters released in Illinois died y s e t r

u from lead poisoning from fishing o c o t

o sinkers. The other swan was removed h P ( and taken to Iowa. “We have to be very careful about where we release these birds,” he said. Their survival may be tenuous, but three successful nests in Illinois in the past two years—after a 150-year absence—hopefully points to better days ahead for trumpeter swans in Illinois.

Sheryl DeVore is chief editor of the Meadowlark, published by the Illinois Ornithological Society and author of three books including “Birds of Illinois.”

May 2008 Outdoor Illinois / 11