Tundra Swan
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Cygnus columbianus
Population size
317-336 Thou
Life Span
25 years
Top speed
135
84
km/hmph
km/h mph 
Weight
3.4-9.6
7.5-21.1
kglbs
kg lbs 
Length
115-150
45.3-59.1
cminch
cm inch 
Wingspan
168-211
66.1-83.1
cminch
cm inch 

The Tundra swan (Cygnus columbianus) is a small swan of the Holarctic. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific but are also sometimes split into two species: Bewick's swan (Cygnus bewickii) of the Palaearctic and the Whistling swan (C. columbianus) proper of the Nearctic.

Appearance

In adult Tundra swans, the plumage is entirely white, with black feet, and a bill that is mostly black, with a thin salmon-pink streak running along the mouthline and - depending on the subspecies - more or less yellow in the proximal part. The iris is dark brown. In birds living in waters that contain large amounts of iron ions (e.g. bog lakes), the head and neck plumage acquires a golden or rusty hue. Pens (females) are slightly smaller than cobs (males) but do not differ in appearance otherwise. Immatures of both subspecies are white mixed with some dull grey feathering, mainly on the head and upper neck, which are often entirely light grey; their first-summer plumage is quite white already, and in their second winter they moult into the adult plumage. Their bills are black with a large dirty-pink patch taking up most of the proximal half and often black nostrils, and their feet are dark grey with a pinkish hue. Downy young are silvery grey above and white below.

Video

Distribution

Geography

Tundra swans are natives of regions of North America, Asia, Europe, North Africa, and the Caribbean. Tundra swans of North America are migratory and consist of two populations: an eastern population and a western one. During the summer mating season, the western birds inhabit Alaska's southwestern coast, from the Aleutian Islands to Point Hope, and above Canada's Arctic circle. During the winter, they live in the Arctic slope in Alaska to the Californian Central Valley. In the summer mating season, the eastern birds live in the Pacific Ocean and migrate southward via Canada, and into North America's Great Lakes region. On their wintering grounds, the swans inhabit Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. Tundra swans live in freshwater pools, lakes, grasslands, and marshes. At the time of migration, they occur in lakes and rivers along their migratory route.

Tundra Swan habitat map

Climate zones

Tundra Swan habitat map
Tundra Swan
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Habits and Lifestyle

Tundra swans are social birds and interact with others within their population. The most stable unit for a swan is the family, which consists of both parents, the 3 to 7 cygnets they have produced that year, and sometimes young from previous years. In the breeding season, they tend to be territorial and are aggressive to many animals who pass by. Tundra swans forage by day dipping their heads and upending while in shallow water. They graze on land, digging with their bills. They will sometimes feed when it is a moonlit night. Aggressive encounters are related to dominance in a hierarchy. Males establish dominance by fighting to protect their families. Swans in the same family use pre-flight signals to ensure that family members take off at the same time. Males tend to lead flights in the autumn and females in the spring. Such signals include opening the wings, head bobbing, neck stretching and bending repeatedly before flight, and other visual displays. Tundra swans have high-pitched honking calls and sound similar to a Black goose (Branta). They are particularly vocal when foraging in flocks on their wintering grounds; any conspecific arriving or leaving will elicit a bout of loud excited calling from its fellows. Contrary to its common name, the ground calls of the Whistling swan are not a whistle and neither notably different from that of Bewick's swan. The flight call of the latter is a low and soft ringing bark, 'bow-wow...'; the Whistling swan gives a markedly high-pitched trisyllabic bark like 'wow-wow-wow' in flight.

Seasonal behavior
Bird's call

Diet and Nutrition

Tundra swans are herbivorous (graminivorous, folivorous) and consume plants, including grasses, sedges, and smartweed. Grasses they eat include mannagrass and seagrass. The swans prefer flowers, stems, tubers, and roots. They also eat some invertebrates like shellfish.

Mating Habits

MATING BEHAVIOR
REPRODUCTION SEASON
May-June
INCUBATION PERIOD
31-33 days
INDEPENDENT AGE
2 years
FEMALE NAME
pen
MALE NAME
cob
BABY NAME
cygnet
web.animal_clutch_size
3-5 eggs

Tundra swans are monogamous, staying with the same mate over their lifetime. They choose mates of similar age and size, and so the largest and oldest pairs are generally more dominant. To help in establishing dominance, males fight to protect their mates. Mating pairs breed every year, from late May until late June, with both parents helping in raising their young. They build nests of vegetation, often sedges, moss, and grasses, placing the material on dry elevated ground. Females lay 3-5 yellowish to white eggs and incubation lasts for 31-32 days. The cygnets are cared for by both parents and remain in the nest for three days. The young fledge around 60-75 days after they hatch. Until about the age of 2, the cygnets follow their mother closely. Sometimes siblings will rejoin their family, either with a mate or without one. Tundra swans can reproduce at 3 years old, but may not begin mating until the age of 4 or 5.

Population

Population threats

Tundra swans are threatened by the loss and degradation of wetland habitats as a result of drainage (e.g. peat extraction, petroleum pollution, and changing wetland management practices) and the mowing and burning of reeds. The Arctic breeding habitat is threatened by gas and oil exploration. The species is further threatened by oil pollution (oil spills) in pre-migrational staging and molting areas, collisions with powerlines, lead poisoning from fishing weights, and lead shot ingestion on wintering grounds and during migration. The Tundra swan is a victim of poaching in northwest Europe and hunting for sport in North America as well as hunting for subsistence in all of its range.

Population number

According to IUCN Red List, the total population size of the Tundra swan is 317,000-336,000 individuals. The breeding population in Europe consists of 5,000-6,000 pairs, which equates to 10,000-12,000 mature individuals. National population sizes have been estimated at around 50-10,000 wintering individuals in China and around 100-10,000 breeding pairs in Russia. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.

Fun Facts for Kids

  • Lewis and Clark gave the first written description of Tundra swans during their travels to the West, where the swans’ whistle-like calls induced Lewis to call them “whistling swans.”
  • Throughout the breeding season, a Tundra swan sleeps almost the whole time on land, but during the winter it more often sleeps on water.
  • When the female Tundra swan is incubating the eggs, the male keeps a steady lookout for potential predators heading towards his mate and offspring. When either of them spots a threat, they give a warning sound to let their partner know that danger is approaching. Sometimes the male will use his wings to run faster and appear larger in order to scare away a predator.
  • Swans are very intelligent and they remember whether particular people have been kind or not towards them.
  • A herd is the name for a group of wild swans but a captive group is called a fleet.

Coloring Pages

References

1. Tundra Swan Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra_swan
2. Tundra Swan on The IUCN Red List site - http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22679862/0
3. Xeno-canto bird call - https://xeno-canto.org/704459

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