Trumpeter Swan

Jennifer

APPEARANCE

The Trumpeter Swan is a large swan bird. The Trumpeter Swan is the rarest swan in the world. In 1996 the Trumpeter Swan was de-listed in Canada and now it is extirpated in Manitoba. They used to live across North America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. They were hunted for down, feathers and meat. There were only 77 Trumpeter breeding in Canada in 1933. In 1975 over 1000 Trumpeter Swans could be found in private and pubic zoos.

The Trumpeter Swan is the largest swan in the world. Its weight is around 13.6 kilograms and its length is up to 152-182 centimeters (5-6 feet). The Trumpeter Swan's wing spans about 3 meters or 288-182 centimeters. There young cygnets are gray. The adult swan has white feathers. Their legs and feet are black, and their upper neck is usually stained orange.

The Trumpeter Swan's feet are important to them for meal time because their large feet help them maintain their balance while they pull out the roots from under water.

WHY EXTIRPATED

The Trumpeter Swan is extirpated because of illegal shooting, enemies like man kind, eagles, owls, coyotes and minks and last of all is shooting accidents like lead poisoning caused by ingestion of lead shots. The Trumpeter Swan is shot for meat, feathers and down.

HABITAT

The Trumpeter Swan once was nested from Alaska and Northern Canada to areas south of the Great Land and along St. Lawrence River. Their winter populations were found from the central Atlantic coast of the United States, Gulf of Mexico, along the Ohio, and Mississippi River valleys. At present the biologists say there are three populations: 1. Pacific Coast 2. Rocky Mountains 3. Interior. The trumpeter Swans nesting is found on a small island or a muskrat house in a marshy fresh-water lake or pond usually in the tundra. Their home is on lakes, rivers and flat land.

FOOD

The Trumpeter Swan likes to eat un-harvested vegetables, field stubble, early growing grass on farms, leaves, roots of aquatic plants, insects and snails. If the adult Trumpeter Swan were to eat insects and snails it would eat at least around 9kg. per day.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

As you know the Trumpeter Swan is extirpated and in trouble. We can stop this madness by telling hunters to stop trespassing in their habitat. We need to stop the illegal shooting and to make hunters see what they are really shooting and to tell them that these are living creatures. All the swans in Canada are protected and killing them is illegal

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Trumpeter Swan" Hinterland Who's Who. Canadian Wildlife Service, 1992. (pamphlet)

"Trumpeter Swan" Vision Quest Web Service Inc. Sentinel Society, 1996.