Tundra Swans
by Carol Mack
Tundra swans visit Pend Oreille County in large numbers each spring as a resting and fueling stop on their way north to breeding grounds. Our birds spend the summer in and around bodies of water in the coastal lowlands of western Alaska, where they feed on aquatic plants and brood their clutches on mounded nests of vegetation. (The Eastern population of tundra swans nests in northern wetlands from the north slope of Alaska eastward, and winters along the East Coast.) Our western birds mostly winter at Great Salt Lake, Central California, or coastal areas from Portland north to Vancouver Island. But in mild winters with open water, wintering populations tend to disperse widely—as 2005 Pend Oreille Christmas Bird Count numbers show, we had several groups totaling about 50 individuals wintering on the river right here.
We can usually expect to see hundreds of migrating swans at Calispel Lake and along Highway 211 from late February to the middle of March. You can immerse yourself in the surround-sound of the swans and thousands of geese and ducks on Calispell Lake by viewing and listening from Westside Calispell Road. They reach their summer homes in late April to May, and remain there until late September. In the fall, more of the swans follow coastal routes rather than flying inland across Pend Oreille County, and stopovers tend to be much shorter, especially if early winter storms are threatening. Young swans (with grayer plumage) accompany their parents for the first year, presumably learning migration routes and spring feeding areas. Birds leave the wintering grounds at their lowest body weights, so spring migration stops are very
important in building up reserves prior to arriving in Alaska
Tundra Swan Facts (from www.wilderness.org)
