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PrintA Brilliant Flash of White
Sizing up Teton Valley’s nesting potential for trumpeter swans
Photo by Mark Gocke
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A mute trumpeter swan named Louis began life at a disadvantage, unable to “ko-hoh” like his siblings. But he ended up dining on watercress sandwiches at the Ritz Carlton, finding his “voice,” and returning to his native pond to raise a family with his swan sweetheart, the beautiful Serena.
The hero of E.B. White’s classic children’s novel The Trumpet of the Swan, Louis exemplifies the way swans have long captivated the human imagination. In a similar manner, Greater Yellowstone trumpeter swans have captured the hearts and minds of local conservationists, scientists, and waterfowl-loving wetland owners who wish to see the bird nesting in Teton Basin. While they may cite different reasons for their interests in trumpeters, these people are united in their appreciation of the majestic bird.
“There’s nothing like seeing [a trumpeter] in the early morning mist,” says Susan Patla, a nongame biologist who works for the Jackson Regional Office of Wyoming Game and Fish.
Trumpeter swans are big, boasting an eight-foot wingspan and weighing up to thirty pounds. According to Ruth Shea, Greater Yellowstone Coordinator at the Minnesota-based Trumpeter Swan Society, if the birds were much heavier, they would be unable to fly. As it is, she says, they must have an unobstructed flight path for takeoff, free from the potentially lethal hazards of power lines and low fences across the water. And they can actually sound a bit like bombers as they lift off.
The iconic trumpeter swan shows strong loyalty to its nesting grounds. In spring, pairs return to their territories to rebuild their large nests. Generally, the female lays between four and six eggs, and anywhere from one to six cygnets will hatch thirty-three to thirty-seven days later, typically during the last ten days of June. Both the parents and cygnets will eat a large amount of aquatic vegetation before the young become capable of flight in late September.
In winter, trumpeter swans need open water and abundant aquatic vegetation. Their long necks help them reach down to submerged plants and tubers. In spring, before returning to their nesting area, the parents separate from their yearlings in order to begin again the cycle of rearing a new brood of cygnets. The year-old siblings, meanwhile, turn to exploring the region within approximately a one-hundred-mile radius of their natal area. Later, in subsequent winters, they may reunite with their parents at the latter’s traditional wintering sites, continuing to reinforce family bonds. During these subadult years, they check out potential nesting sites and select a mate, before their first attempt to nest at three to five years of age.
Shea recently flew over Teton Basin and identified four potential swan-nesting wetlands. She knows what the birds are looking for, and it’s one of the rarest habitats in the arid Rocky Mountain West: shallow, productive wetlands that retain sufficient water at least through mid-October. Sites also must provide an abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation and be free of power lines and fences.
“Because [the birds] are super sensitive to human disturbance, particularly when nesting, managing people is as important as anything else,” says wetlands scientist Jeff Klausmann, co-owner of Driggs-based Intermountain Aquatics.
While no trumpeter swans currently nest in Teton Valley, Shea believes the basin could be a key piece in the effort to protect Greater Yellowstone’s swan populations. Among other attributes, several landowners here are increasing the quantity of wetlands through restoration efforts. By working with landowners to set up conservation easements and management plans, the Teton Regional Land Trust has also played a crucial role in protecting and adding new wetland habitat....(Continued)
