TUNDRA SWAN
The Tundra Swan is the most widespread and numerous species of swan in North America.
Though the Tundra Swan is mostly found in Alaska or Canada, many flocks are now beign spoted in Oregon. Tundra swans, once called whistlers, are winter visitors to Oregon. More and more are now seen in the Willamette Valley and along the Columbia River northwest of Portland.
With a wingspread to about 7 feet, males weigh around 20 lbs. Tundras vary in size from 4 to 4 1/2 ft. long.
Females are slightly smaller than males. Sometimes tundras are mistaken for snow geese which are much smaller birds with black wing tips. You can certainly tell a Tundra Swan from their bill. It is all black bill with variably-sized yellow spot at base.
Some swans have short, duck-like bills... but the Tundra Swan has a long, strait bill. Imature Tundra Swans have a body much grayer than an adult. Males are called cobs while females are called pens.
When nesting, Swans gather and pile up grass and mosses within 100 yards of water. The resulting nest measures about 6 feet across and 12-18 inches high. This nest will support the eggs above water level and provide a lookout station for the swans to guard against predators. During incubation, females care for the eggs while their mates stand guard nearby.
The female does most of the incubation, but the male will sit on the nest while she eats. The nest varies from 2-8 rough shelled, pale yellow or creamy/ white eggs which hatch in late June. When the downy, ash-gray chicks emerge...
they weigh about 180 g. They are soon able to forage for themselves. Both parents help them find suitable plant food around the peramiters of the nest. The young enter the water soon after hatching.
Food for the tundra swans is largely vegetative. Their long necks equip them to reach bulbous roots which they dislodge with their feet from the bottom of the shallow ponds.
Occasionally they will feed on farm crops. While wintering on the east coast, they also feed on mollusks and crustaceans. While the flock is feeding one swan stands guard to warn of any approaching danger.
To achieve flight, swans face the wind, run along the surface of water for 15 to 20 feet, flap their wings, and beat the water with their feet alternately until they have gained sufficient headway to launch into the air.
During flight in v-shaped formations, swans achieve speeds up to 100 miles an hour with a tail wind. They have been sighted at elevations of 6,000 to 8,000 feet where flocks have been struck by aircraft that has resulted in at least two fatal air crashes.
The courtship and pairing of young adult birds is in full swing in late winter and continues through the spring migration. Adults already paired reinforce their bond by vocal and visual displays. The most spectacular of these is the so-called "victory" display in were male and female face each other, extend and wave their wings slowly, bow the head and neck forward and backward(think of head-bangers), and make a formalized sequence of loud, crazy sounds.
The pair-bond is strong and lasts for life. Tundra swans first breed when they are 2 or 3 years old.
Like some others in the geese family, swans mate for life. If one of a pair dies, the other will find a new mate. Not all adult pairs nest every year.
The incubation period is 30 to 32 days and begins when the final egg is laid. If all goes well, the chicks growth rate is very rapid and in September, after about 70 days, their weight may be 28 times the hatching weight. This growth rate is necessary, because by early September the cygnets must be fully feathered and able to fly well enough to travel to larger lakes that will freeze over more slowly.The family remains on the territory and together during the fall migration, through winter, and during spring migration. So in all, Swans stay in families for about one year.
Adult Tundra Swans molt between July and August they are flightless for several weeks, until the moulted primary wing feathers are replaced by new ones. Nonbreeders, which remain in flocks of 3 to 15 during the breeding season, regain flight in late August. Babies get adult feathers at about 15 months.
